■-"  ■'.'-. 


INDIAN   NAMES 


OF  PLACES  IN 


WORCESTER   COUNTY 
MASSACHUSETTS 


F  fcPHRAIMJ 
>KSELLER  ■ 

!AFTON  ST.    i 


INDIAN  NAMES 


OF    PLACES    IN 

WORCESTER    COUNTY 
MASSACHUSETTS 

WITH     INTERPRETATIONS    OF 
SOME   OF    THEM 


By 
LINCOLN    N.  KINNICUTT 


WORCESTER,    MASSACHUSETTS 
I905 


THE  COMMONWEALTH    PRESS, 
WORCESTER,   MASS. 


Your  rivers  guard  our  a?icient  names." 


"  Your  mountains  are  our  monuments." 


■32 


'-3 


INTRODUCTION 


MY  object  in  writing  this  paper  is  the  collecting  together 
of  Worcester  county  Indian  names,  which  in  many 
cases  have  been  known  only  to  the  very  few,  who, 
having  occasion  to  search  the  original  deeds,  have  unexpectedly 
found  them.  It  is,  I  think,  to  be  regretted  that  the  Nipmuck 
names  are  not  more  generally  used.  They  belong  to  Worcester 
county,  and  remind  us  that  we  have  a  past  history  dating  far 
back  of  1620.  They  were  the  only  possessions  we  were 
unable  to  take  from  the  red  man,  and  now  they  have  come  to  us 
as  residuary  legatees.  These  names  are  about  the  only  relics 
of  an  ancient  people  who  once  inhabited  our  own  county.  The 
Indian  before  we  civilized  him  with  fire-water  and  European 
morals  was  far  different  from  the  Indian  of  a  few  years '  subju- 
gation to  our  civilizing  influences,  and  it  is  our  fault  rather 
than  his  that  a  more  honorable  place  has  not  been  accorded  to 

5     him  in  the  history  of  Massachusetts  and  of  our  whole  country ; 
it  is  our  fault,  not  his,  that  the  blot  on  the  American  escutcheon 

b"     is  the  Indian. 

The  Nipmuck  tribe,  by  whom  these  names  were  used,  inhab- 
ited before  1620  certainly  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of 

zn     Worcester  county,   and   probably  their  country  was  of  much 


yi  larger  extent.  The  exact  boundaries  of  their  dominions  have 
never  been  determined,  and  historians  differ  widely  on  this 
point.  On  a  map  compiled  chiefly  from  a  survey  of  1774  their 
boundaries  extended  as  far  east  as  Boston  and  Andover,  on  the 
south  to  the  boundary  lines  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut, 
on  the  west  to  Stockbridge  and  Bennington,  and  on  the  north 
to  a  portion  of  the  southern  part  of  New  Hampshire.  The 
principal  seat  of  the  Nipmucks  was  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Worcester. 


INTRODUCTION 


' '  The  country  of  the  Niprnoogs  or  Nipmucks  is  of  very  un- 
certain extent.  Its  bounds  were  probably  never  exactly  under- 
stood by  anybody.  It  was  a  general  name  for  an  undefined 
tract  of  inland  country  between  the  Merrimac  and  Connecticut 
rivers. ' '  (Samuel  G.  Drake,  Old  Indian  Chronicle,  p.  141 
note.) 

From  examination  of  much  early  colonial  history  and  from 
old  deeds,  I  am  led  to  believe  that  the  Nipmucks  were  once  a 
numerous  and  important  people,  occupying  a  large  extent  of 
country,  governed  by  one  sachem  (the  last  possibly  having  been 
Nanopashamet),  and  probably  subdivided  into  many  smaller 
tribes.  Through  civil  war  or  by  combination  of  several  of  the 
neighboring  tribes,  their  power  was  destroyed,  and  their  country 
divided  among  the  Massachusetts,  the  Wampanoags,  the  Paw- 
tuckets,  the  Narragansetts,  and  others.  Some  writers  have 
believed  the  Nipmucks  to  have  been  inferior  to  the  other  Massa- 
chusetts Indians,  but  from  what  Gookin  wrote  about  them  this 
is  to  be  doubted,  and  Eliot  certainly  must  have  judged  them 
differently,  as  most  of  his  Indian  praying  towns  were  in  the 
Nipmuck  country,  and  he  selected  many  teachers  from  among 
them.  In  1683  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  London  in  regard  to  a 
revised  edition  of  the  Indian  Bible,  "  we  have  but  one  man,  the 
Indian  printer,  that  is  able  to  compose  the  sheets  and  correct 
the  press  with  understanding. ' '  This  man  was  James  the 
Printer,  from  Hassanamissit  (Grafton). 

I  have  also  attempted  to  suggest  the  meaning  of  some  of 
these  names,  but  in  the  interpretation  of  Indian  place  names  so 
many  difficulties  have  to  be  overcome  that  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  best  acknowledged  authorities  sometimes  reach  very 
different  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  same  word.  Some  of  the 
difficulties  of  translation  are  as  follows  : 

The  Indians  had  no  written  language. 

Their  place  names  were  spelled  differently  as  they  sounded 
to  the  individual  recorder.     English  spelling,  even  of  English 

6 


INTRODUCTION 


words,  in  deeds  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  very  capricious. 
We  sometimes  find  a  common  word  spelled  several  different 
ways  in  the  same  deed.  To  represent  the  foreign  sound  of  a 
word  spoken  in  a  strange  language  is  always  very  difficult  to 
a  writer. 

Differences  of  dialect  of  the  various  tribes.  (Dr.  J.  H. 
Trumbull  says,  "  The  Mohigans  and  Narragansetts  had  different 
names  for  the  same  birds,  fish  and  trees,  as  well  as  for  the  same 
rivers,  ponds  and  hills. ' ') 

The  introduction  or  omission  of  a  letter  for  the  sake  of 
euphony  by  English  writers.  (Dr.  Trumbull  also  says,  "The 
methods  of  Algonquin  synthesis  are  so  exactly  prescribed  that 
the  omission  or  displacement  of  a  consonant  or  emphasized 
vocal  necessarily  modifies  the  signification  of  a  compound  word, 
and  may  often  render  its  interpretation  or  analysis  impossible. ' ') 

The  strange  corruption  of  place  names  in  old  records  prob- 
ably attributable  to  the  use  of  an  interpreter. 

In  the  translation  of  Indian  names,  I  believe  it  to  be  very 
essential  that  a  knowledge  of  the  exact  locality  should  be  ob- 
tained, as  it  is  at  present,  and  if  possible  as  it  was  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Very  valuable  information  is  sometimes  found 
by  searching  local  histories  and  land  grants  ;  often  a  local  tra- 
dition or  early  colonial  literature  will  furnish  valuable  clues. 

The  Indians  of  New  England  were  very  practical  in  their 
place  names,  and  almost  "  every  name  described  the  locality  to 
which  it  was  affixed. ' '  Imagination  was  rarely  if  ever  used, 
and  any  translation  expressing  this  faculty  must,  I  think,  be 
taken  with  great  caution.  Our  Indians  used  their  imagination, 
however,  in  other  words,  almost  poetically.  Their  name  for 
the  Pleiades  was  ' '  Chippapuock, ' '  the  brood  hen  ;  for  the  belt 
of  Orion,  "  Shwishacuttowwauog, ' '  a  wigwam  with  three  fires  ; 
for  a  trap,  "  Appeh,  "  from  "  Up-pacheau, "  he  waits  for  him. 
In  their  names  of  many  plants  and  flowers  great  imagination 
and  keen  observation  are  expressed.     The  Indian  place  names 


INTRODUCTION 


translated  are  in  many  cases  similar  to  our  English  ones,  but  for 
the  sake  of  euphony,  if  for  no  other  reason,  many  of  their 
originals  should  be  retained.  Quinsigamond,  Wachuset  and 
Hassanamesit  are  more  euphonious  than  Pickerel  Pond,  Hill 
Town  and  Little  Stone  Place,  and  certainly  the  Indian  names 
for  Dead  Horse  pond,  Mud  pond,  Skunk  creek,  Hell  lake, 
Round  hill,  Cat  brook,  Snake  swamp,  Woodchuck  hollow,  etc., 
etc.,  are  preferable  and  add  an  attribute  of  dignity  and  attract- 
iveness to  these  localities  which,  with  our  English  names,  they 
do  not  now  possess. 

I  hope  that  my  wish  to  rescue  some  of  the  Nipmuck  place 
names  from  oblivion  may  be  accomplished  by  this  paper,  and 
possibly  lead  to  a  more  general  use.  For  our  country  places, 
for  some  of  our  public  institutions,  and  for  our  factories  on  our 
various  streams,  they  certainly  lend  themselves  with  great 
adaptability.  My  list,  I  believe,  will  be  found  very  incomplete, 
for  their  must  be  many  records  and  old  deeds  I  have  not  seen, 
and  I  would  thankfully  receive  any  other  Worcester  county 
names,  as  I  hope  in  the  near  future  to  publish  a  list  of  the 
Indian  names  in  Massachusetts. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  the  publications  and  letters  of  Dr. 
J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  and  I  have  used,  whenever  possible, 
his  translations  and  suggestions.  Roger  Williams'  Key  to  the 
Indian  Language,  Wood's  New  England's  Prospect,  Josiah 
Cotton's  Vocabulary  of  the  Massachusetts  Indian  Language, 
Dr.  Albert  Gallatin's  Vocabularies,  and  Rev.  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards '  Observations  on  the  Mohigan  Language  are  the  authori- 
ties I  have  mostly  consulted. 

I  have  included  in  this  list  a  few  names  over  the  boundaries 
of  Worcester  county,  as  they  properly  belong  to  the  Nipmuck 
country. 


INDIAN    NAMES 


Ahampatunshauge,  Ahumpatunshauge. 

Mentioned  as  a  boundary  in  original  deed  of  Rutland,  March 
15,  1686-87  (Middlesex  Registry  of  Deeds,  book  16,  page 
511)  :    "And  so  to  Ahampatunshauge,  a  little  pond." 


Asquoach,  Ashquoash,  Ashquoach. 

A  hill  named  in  the  Indian  deed  of  Brookfield.  "Must 
have  been  south  of  Long  Hill,  at  the  southerly  point  of  West 
Brookfield." 

Ashquoach  was  the  name  also  of  "an  important  Quabaug 
village  often  named  in  early  records ;  was  situated  on  Indian 
Hill  north  of  Great  (now  Sherman's)  pond,  in  Brimfield,  and 
a  short  distance  from  the  old  Brookfield  line."  "  This  town 
was  distinguished  for  its  great  cornfields  and  its  defensive  fort." 
(Temple  Hist,  of  N.  Brookfield.) 

The  Natick  dictionary  of  Dr.  Trumbull  gives  Ashquosh 
as  the  plural  of  ashq,  asq,  and  states  that  ' '  the  English  adopted 
the  plural  'Asquash '  as  a  singular,  and  formed  a  new  plural, 
Squashes" — "Askutasquash,  their  vine  apple,  which  the  En- 
glish from  them  call  Squashes."  (R.  W.)  Possibly  a  final 
syllable  has  been  lost,  and  the  old  name  signified  '  a  place  of 
vine  apples.' 

Harry  Andrew  Wright  translates  Asquoach — 'Iskwa-ack'  the 
ending  place.'    (Indian  Deeds,  p.  60.) 


Asnaconcomick,  Asnecomcomit,  Asnacomet,  Corn- 
met,  Comet. 

A  pond  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Hubbardston,  first  men- 
tioned in  an  Indian  deed  dated  Dec.  22,  1686. 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Mr.  Peter  Whitney,  in  his  history  of  the  County  of  Worces- 
ter, in  1793,  writes:  "At  Little  Asnaconcomick  pond  there  is 
every  appearance  that  once  a  stone  wall  was  built,  or  building, 
in  some  places  it  is  two  feet  and  a  half  in  height,  as  if  laid  up 
by  the  hands  of  men."  It  has  "the  appearance  of  a  large 
stone  wall  thrown  down." 

I  believe  the  name  was  first  applied  to  the  place  where  these 
stones  are,  rather  than  to  either  Great  or  Little  Asnaconcomick 
ponds,  as  there  is  nothing  in  this  name  referring  to  water, 
which  is  almost  always  the  case  in  Indian  names  for  ponds.  I 
would  suggest  from  Hassun  a  stone,  quon,  Jcomuck,  long  house 
or  long  enclosed  place  ;   '  a  long  place  enclosed  with  stones.' 

Little  Asnaconcomick  pond  is  now  known  as  Moosehorn 
pond. 

Asnebumskit,  Hasnebumskitt. 

A  large  hill  in  Paxton  and  Holden,  and  a  pond  in  Paxton. 
The  pond  taking  the  name  from  the  hill,  probably  derived  from 
Hassun,  a  stone,  and  ompsk,  a  standing  rock,  with  the  locative 
suffix,  at  or  near,  signifying  '  the  place  where  a  large  rock  rises 
from  stony  ground.'  At  a  prominent  place  on  the  hill  this  is  a 
striking  feature. 

In  some  old  deeds  the  name  is  spelled  Hasnebumskeat  and 
Hasnebumskeag .  It  is  generally  called  by  the  inhabitants 
"  Bum  skit,"  which  is  an  acknowledged  corruption. 

Also  name  given  to  brook  in  Holden. 


Aspomsok. 

The  Indian  deed  of  the  township  of  Towtaid  (Leicester) 
recorded  March  8,  1713-14,  but  made  the  27th  of  January, 
1686,  mentions  this  hill  as  one  of  the  boundaries. 

Hon.  Emory  Washburn,  in   his  history  of  Leicester,  says 


INDIAN  NAMES 


' '  The  northern  line  (boundary)  is  assumed  to  be  known  by  its 
running  into  a  great  hill  called  Aspomsok,  which  is  supposed  to 
be  the  hill  now  called  Hasnebumskit  in  Paxton. 

The  meaning  of  the  name  may  be  the  same  as  Aspanock, 
which  Trumbull  says  is  "perhaps  the  equivalent  of  Sebonack  in 
Southampton,  L.  I.,  from  Sijnmnak,  ground  nuts,  Indian  pota- 
toes," and  formerly  these  plants  were  found  in  abundance  in 
this  vicinity,  but  I  believe  it  is  another  form  of  expressing  the 
same  meaning  as  Hasnebumskit,  both  being  corruptions  of  the 
same  word,  Hassun,  a  stone,  ompsk,  a  standing  rock,  with 
the  locative  suffix. 

(See  Asnebumskit.} 


Assabet. 

A  river  rising  in  Berlin,  Grafton,  and  Northboro,  flows 
through  Westboro,  Northboro,  forms  the  north  branch  of  the 
Concord  river. 

In  the  earliest  records  of  Marlboro  it  is  written  Asabeth  or 
Assabeth.  In  the  report  of  the  Canal  Commission,  about  1825, 
it  is  written  fflizebeth,  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of 
Elizabeth  (Worcester  Magazine,  p.  132). 

From  a  publication  of  the  Concord  Antiquarian  Society,  by 
Mr.  Adams  Tolman,  1903,  I  quote  the  following:  "Possibly 
the  stream  was  named  Elizabeth  by  some  early  dweller  upon  its 
banks,  and  the  Indians,  unable  to  master  either  the  '  1 '  or  the 
'  th '  sounds,  got  as  near  it  as  they  could.  The  Rev.  N.  W. 
Jones,  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  New  York  in  1867,  translates 
Assabet  by  'miry  place,'  but  he  gives  no  derivation,  and  I  am 
unable  to  find  in  any  of  the  vocabularies  any  authority  or  sup- 
port for  his  view.  Personally,  I  am  inclined  to  derive  it  from 
Assim,  meaning  '  a  fountain  from  which  water  is  drawn  for 
drinking/  and  so  used  in  Eliot's  Bible;  et,  ut,  'it'  or  'at,'  — 
the  sound  of  T  preceded  by  an  obscure  vowel,  —  was  an  insep- 


INDIAN  NAMES 


arable  particle  conveying  the  idea  of  place,  Assabet,  then,  I 
should  translate  as  "the  stream  we  drink  from."  Higher  up 
on  the  river  I  find  it  sometimes  called  Assabasset,  which  would 
mean  "  a  drinking  place  where  the  water  widens  out." 

Possibly  from  Ashiip,  Ashappog  (Cotton),  net,  nets,  refer- 
ring to  a  place  where  nets  were  used  for  fishing. 

Assawaga,  Assawogga. 

Name  of  river  in  Conn.,  formerly  part  in  Massachusetts, 
now  called  Five  Mile  river.     See  Nashaway. 


Calamint,  Not  an  Indian  Name. 

Hill  in  southern  part  of  Princeton.  I  have  been  unable  to 
find  it  mentioned  in  any  of  the  old  deeds  or  boundaries  of  the 
country  in  the  neighborhood  of  Princeton.  Tradition  says  that 
it  was  so  named  from  the  herb  calamint,  which  was  found  in 
abundance  on  this  hill. 

Augutteback. 

A  pond  in  the  western  part  of  Oxford. 

In  the  division  of  thirty  thousand  acres  of  the  original  grant 
of  Oxford  among  five  individuals  "Augutteback"  pond  was  the 
only  permanent  bound  mentioned.  All  the  others  were  marked 
trees,  heaps  of  stones  or  stakes.  This  deed,  dated  July  3, 
1698,  was  found  in  London  in  1872,  and  is  now  in  possession 
of  the  New  York  Hist.  Soc.  Cox  copy  is  in  the  library  of  the 
Am.  Anticq.  Soc.  in  Worcester,  and  also  printed  in  full  in 
Amidown's  Historical  Collections,  1-128.  Mr.  Whitney  gives 
the  name  "Augootsback"  but  I  can  find  no  authority. 

I  believe  that  this  name  is  a  corruption  of  Ahkuhq-paug  or 
Aucuck-pag,  'Kettle  pond,'  from  the  fact  that  many  soapstone 


INDIAN  NAMES 


pots  have  been  found  in  this  vicinity,  and  a  ledge  or  deposit  of 
soapstone  is  still  in  existence,  where  many  signs  of  Indian  work 
have  been  discovered.  From  Ohkuk  (Narr.  Aucuch)  (Cotton. 
Ohkuke),  '  a  pot  or  vessel.' 


Cataconamog,  Catecunemaug,  Cateconimoug,  Cata- 
coonamug. 

A  pond  in  the  S.  E.  part  of  Lunenburg,  and  S.  W.  part  of 
Shirley,  now  Shirley  reservoir.  Also  name  given  to  stream 
rising  in  the  western  or  central  part  of  Lunenburg ;  flows 
through  the  pond,  through  Shirley  into  the  Nashua.  Probably 
from  Kehohe  or  K' 'che-quon-amaug ',  '  the  great  long  fishing  place.' 
As  the  stream,  from  the  river  to  the  pond,  is  a  series  of  small 
ponds,  this  is  the  natural  signification  of  the  name,  and  probably 
was  first  applied  to  the  pond,  and  stream  between  the  pond  and 
river. 


Chaubunakongkomuk  (Eliot   1668)  Chabanakong- 
komun  (Gookin). 

Mrs.  Freeland  in  her  history  of  Oxford  says,  "Sometimes 
named  Chaubunagungamaug  and  Char-gog-ga-gog-man-chog-a- 
gog"  The  Indian  name  for  the  land  about  Dudley  and  Web- 
ster ;  Chaubunakungomaug,  the  present  name  of  the  large  pond 
in  Webster. 

Dr.  Trumbull  says,  "  The  name  as  written  by  Eliot  means 
a  boundary  place,"  and  the  name  of  the  pond  meant  "fishing 
place  at  the  boundary."  He  also  says  the  longer  name  "re- 
tains only  a  suggestion  of  its  original  and  incorporated  with  it 
the  name  of  the  Indian  village  of  Monuhchogok." 

Kekamoochaug  was  another  name  for  land  about  Dudley,  and 
possibly  had  about  the  same  signification. 

13 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Kuhkham,  'he  marks  out,'  Kuhkuh  heg,  'a  land  mark,  a 
boundary.' 

Chequapee,  Chickopee,  Chicabee. 

A  large  river  in  the  central  western  part  of  Massachusetts 
flowing  into  the  Conn.  Whitney  spells  it  "Chicabee"  and 
describes  it  as  the  name  given  to  the  Ware  river  after  receiving 
the  Quaboag  river  which  comes  from  Brookfield  (page  324). 
The  name  is  also  now  given  to  a  city  and  county  north  of 
Springfield. 

Probably  from  ' '  chikee  "or  "  chekeyeu, "  '  it  rages  '  or  '  is 
violent, '  and  '  pe '  the  root  of  names  of  '  water '  in  nearly  all 
Algonquin  dialects,  'raging  or  rushing  water.' 

CMkkup  also  was  the  name  for  Cedar  tree,  and  Chikkuppee, 
an  adjective  meaning  'of  cedar.'  Possibly  the  name  is  a  cor- 
ruption of  Chikkuppee,  auke,  and  was  first  applied  to  the  land 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  river,  '  Cedar  country.' 

Chesquonopog,  Chesquonapoage. 

Pond  in  the  northern  part  of  Lancaster,  "mentioned  as  early 
as  1660  in  (Lancaster)  town  records  .  .  .  probably  what 
is  known  as  White's  pond."     (Lancastriana,  Nourse,  p.  9.) 

The  apparent  derivation  is  if'  che-quinne-paug,  '  the  great 
long  pond,'  but  it  is  not  characteristic  of  White's  pond. 

Possibly  the  name  is  a  corruption  of  Kehtequanitch,  '  thumb, ' 
pog,  '  pond, '  and  was  the  name  of  Little  Spectacle  pond,  from 
the  resemblance  to  a  thumb  of  Spectacle  pond.  Little  Spectacle 
pond  is  a  little  over  a  mile  from  White's  pond. 

Chocksett.    See  Woonksechocksett. 
Name  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Sterling. 

i4 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Chockolog,  Shockolog,  Shokalog. 

Pond  in  the  southwest  part  of  Uxbridge.  This  word  is  writ- 
ten in  many  different  ways  and  on  the  late  published  maps  it  is 
spelled  Choekaloc.  Hon.  Henry  Chapin  wrote  it  Shokalog.  I 
do  not  attempt  an  interpretation  in  its  present  form  but  should 
suppose  from  its  termination  it  originally  referred  to  land  rather 
than  to  water. 


Cohasset,  Cohasee. 

Brook  in  Southbridge.  The  same  name  as  the  town  on 
Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  name  of  the  brook  in  Southbridge,  probably  came  from 
the  land  name  Cowassit,  '  small  or  young  pine  land, '  but  the 
name  of  the  town  is  given  in  Nason's  Massachusetts  Gazetteer 
as  from  "Connohassit,  which  signifies  '  a  fishing  promontory.'  ' 

Also  Cohasset,  rocks,  and  Connohassit,  river — both  near  the 
town.  The  original  name,  however,  was  Conohasset  (see  Mass. 
Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  2,  series  3,  p.  84). 

Equies. 

Brook  and  swamp  mentioned  in  early  history  of  North 
Brookfield.  Possibly  a  corruption  of  Tant-equies-on,  "a  Mo- 
hegan  captain." 

(See  Tantousque),  or  used  as  a  boundary  mark.  (See 
Wequaes.) 

Hassanamiset,  Hassanamesitt,  Hassanamisco,  Has- 
sunnimesut. 

The  name  of  Grafton,  near  Worcester.  Was  one  of  the 
15 


INDIAN  NAMES 


most  important  of  the  villages  of  the  praying  Indians.  Gookin, 
in  his  "Historical  Collections  of  the  Indians  in  New  England," 
written  in  1674,  says:  "The  name  signifies  a  place  of  small 
stones,"  probably  derived  from  Hassun,  a  stone;  Haseunemes, 
a  little  stone,  with  the  locative  affix,  et  or  it.  Hutchinson 
wrote  the  name  "  Hassunimesut "  (Hist.,  vol.  1,  p.  156). 

James,  the  Printer,  who  was  distinguished  for  his  assistance 
in  printing  the  Indian  Bible,  being  employed  in  setting  up  the 
type,  was  a  native  of  Hassanamiset. 

< '  A  school  was  established  here  where  the  Bible  was  read 
and  studied  in  the  Indian  language.  Young  men  were  here 
educated  and  sent  into  the  neighboring  towns  to  preach  the 
Gospel  as  Christian  teachers."  (Mrs.  Freeland's  History  of 
Oxford.) 

Hassunnek. 

A  name  sometimes  given  to  an  overhanging  rock  on  Stone 
house  hill  in  Holden,  from  which  the  hill  takes  its  name.  This 
name  was  never  used  by  the  Indians  for  this  locality,  but 
although  modern  is  a  literal  translation. 

Assineck  (Hassunnek,  Eliot),  'ledge  of  rocks.'  Eliot  used 
this  word  for  any  cave  or  den. 

Hosokie. 

A  meadow  mentioned  as  a  boundary  of  the  land  of  James 
Atherton  in  early  records  of  Lancaster  (p.  253),  "buting  east- 
erdly  upon  sum  part  of  the  Hosokie  meadow."  Probably  a 
part  of  this  word  is  lost.     Asuhkane  =  (it  comes)  after. 

Hobomoco,  Hobomoc. 

A  pond  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Westborough  near  the 
Boston  &  Albany  Railroad. 

16 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Hobbamoco  was  the  Indian  god  of  Evil,  or  Devil.  In  Wood's 
N.  E.  Prospect  he  is  called  Abamocho  (pt.  2,  chap.  8).  In 
man}'  Indian  legends  his  name  occurs.  In  West  Millbury  there 
is  a  large  upright  flat  rock  called  Hobbamoco' s  quoit,  which  by 
Indian  tradition  Hobbamoco  attempted  to  throw  from  Wachusett 
mountain  into  Manchaug  pond,  and  failed  by  about  half  a  mile. 
The  hill  near  the  pond  in  Westborough  was  supposed  to  be  one 
of  his  dwelling  places. 

' '  There  is  another  pond  in  Westborough  which  was  called 
Hobbamocke,  from  some  supposed  infernal  influence,  which  a 
man  was  unhappily  under  nigh  that  pond,  from  morning  till  the 
sun  set"  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.'s  Collections,  series  2,  vol.  10, 
p.   84). 


Kekamoochaug.    See  Chaubunakongkomuk. 
Kekamaquag.    See  Kekamowadchaug. 
Kekamowadchaug. 

Between  Woodstock  and  Oxford. 

Possibly  this  may  be  derived  from  Quequan,  '  it  shakes  or 
trembles,'  and  Wadchu-auke,  '  trembling-hill-place.' 

Quequan,  used  as  a  noun,  an  earthquake.  Kwekivun  (Cree), 
'it  (the  earth)  trembles.' 

The  first  deed,  recorded  in  Worcester,  to  Jonothan  Newell  is 
dated  March  31,  1727,  in  which  Joseph  Edmonds  "belonging 
to  a  farm  called  Kekamowadchaug  between  Woodstock  and 
Oxford,"  etc. 

The  first  deed  to  William  Carter  is  "land  in  Kekamaquag," 
' '  which  early  settlers  used  in  designating  lands  which  lay  to 
the  west  of  Pegan's  Hill." 

Kekamoivadcliaug ',  Kekamaquag,  Keekamoochuck,  may  all  be 
corruptions  of  the  same  name. 

17 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Kequasagansett. 

The  old  name  of  lake  in  eastern  part  of  Berlin,  now  called 
Gates  pond — at  the  eastern  base  of  Sawyer  hill. 
(See  Kekamowadchaug .) 

Kuttatuck,  Kuttutuck,  Tittituck,  Kittituck. 

One  of  the  names  of  the  Blackstone  river.  In  Indian  deed 
Feb.  10,  1681,  of  a  tract  of  land  which  included  what  is  now 
Oxford,  to  William  Stoughton  and  Joseph  Dudley ;  it  is  de- 
scribed as  '■'•Kuttutuck  or  Nipmug  river." 

Trumbull  says :  ' '  The  great  river  called  Kuttatuck  or  Nip- 
mug  river, ' '  so  named  in  the  first  deed  of  the  Nipmuck  country 
by  the  Natick  Indians  in  1681.  Khetetuk  means  '  great '  or 
'  principal '  river. ' ' 

Kehti,  '  chief,  principal,  greatest ; '  tuk,  '  a  tidal  or  broad 
river. ' 

Lashaway. 

Name  given  to  the  large  outlet  of  Wicoboag  pond,  in  the 
southern  part  of  West  Brookfield,  about  twenty  or  thirty  rods 
in  length ;  emptiesin  to  the  Quinebaug  river  (Whitney's  Hist. 
Co.  of  Worcester,  page  79). 

This  probably  is  the  same  name  as  Washaue,  and  was  applied 
first  to  the  land  between  the  river  and  the  pond.  Some  of  the 
Nipmucks  substituted  "1"  for  "n"  of  other  tribe  dialects. 

Mentioned  in  Indian  deed  of  Brookfield,  Nov.  10,  1665. 

Nashaue-ohke,  '  the  land  between.' 

Maanexit,  Mayanexit,  Mananexit. 

A  river  rising  in  Liecester,  runs  through  Oxford  and  Web- 

18 


INDIAN  NAMES 


ster,  flows  into  the  Quinnebaug  at  Thompson,  Conn.  It  is 
now  also  called  French  river. 

Also  name  of  an  Indian  village  in  or  near  the  north  part  of 
Woodstock  (now  Thompson).  "  The  meaning  of  the  name  is 
not  known.  It  may  have  been  formed  from  Mayano,  '  there  is 
a  path  or  road,'  or  its  participal  Maanog,  'where  the  path  is,' 
since  the  Indian  village  was  near  the  old  "Connecticut  Path" 
to  and  from  Massachusetts ;  but  if  so,  the  termination  or  affix 
is  obscure ;  or  it  may  come  from  Miyanau,  '  he  gathers  to- 
gether, '  participal  Mayauuk,  '  when  (or  where)  he  gathers  them 
together,'  alluding  to  the  establishment  of  a  community  of 
Christian  Indians  at  this  place."  (Trumbull's  Indian  names  in 
Conn.,  p.  28.) 

If  this  translation  is  correct,  the  name  must  have  been  given 
to  the  place  by  Eliot. 


Magomiscock. 

The  highest  hill  in  Milford.  The  Indians  gave  the  name 
probably  to  the  whole  range  of  hills.  Mr.  Ballou,  in  his  history 
of  Milford,  says  :  "  The  name  may  be  rendered,  '  ground  afford- 
ing a  grand  show.'  Its  compounds  appear  to  be  MagJco,  to 
afford,  give,  or  grant,  misse,  swollen,  large,  showy,  grand,  and 
ohke,  earth,  ground  or  place,  literally,  a  high  swell  of  land 
affording  a  grand  prospect  of  the  surrounding  country." 

I  would  suggest,  however,  that  the  base  word  of  this  name 
may  be  "  Ompsk  "  (standing  or  upright  rock),  var.  msk-msq  ms, 
etc.,  and  the  name  might  be  translated,  '  Great  Rock  Country,' 
'a  place  of  great  rocks.'  Adin  Ballou  in  his  history  speaks  of 
the  primitive  ledges  and  the  superabundance  of  various  sized 
rocky  fragments,  preventing  the  profitable  tillage  of  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  the  high  lands  (page  22).  At  the  present 
day  the  quarries  of  Milford  are  celebrated. 

19 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Makamacheckamucks. 

A  hill  in  the  western  part  of  Harvard,  now  Prospect  Hill. 
Mentioned  in  Lancaster  Book  of  Lands  as  boundaries  of  home 
lots  of  the  first  settlers. 

Henry  S.  Nourse  said,  "There  is  but  one  Makamachecka- 
mucks, the  rock  strewn  hill  named  for  the  Catacoonamaug  chief- 
tain."    (Address  before  Clinton  Hist.  Soc,  March  9,  1896.) 

In  a  copy  of  an  obligation  that  this  Indian  chief  gave  to 
John  Tinker,  Feb.  13,  1656,  the  name  is  written  Mahmachecko- 
mok  and  Mamaehecomak  (Groton  during  the  Indian  Wars,  p. 
180,  Dr.  Sam'l  A.  Green).  The  original  is  in  the  Middlesex 
County  Court. 


Manchaug. 

Land  about  Oxford. 

Gookin,  in  1674,  speaks  of  Manchaugas  a  village  of  Chris- 
tian Indians  in  Nipmuck  country,  about  eight  miles  west  of 
Nipmuck  river.  John  Eliot  wrote  the  name  '■'■filonuhchogok'" 
(Mass.  Archives,  Indians,  1-146). 

Manchaug  is  now  the  name  of  a  pond  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  Sutton  and  northwestern  part  of  Douglas,  and  also  of  the 
hills  between  Oxford  and  Sutton. 

Following  the  theory  that  Eliot  named  many  of  the  Indian 
praying  towns,  William  Wallace  Tooker  suggests  from  "Menuh 
khi  kook,  Ye  shall  be  strengthened"  (vol.  10,  p.  43,  Algon- 
quian  series) . 


Masharnugget,  Mashgmuggett,  Masharnurket. 

A  hill  in  about  the  centre  of  Charlton. 


INDIAN  NAMES 


This  may  be  the  same  name  as  given  to  a  brook  which  runs 
through  Pomfret,  Conn.,  "Masliamoquet,"'''  and  probably  first 
applied  to  one  or  all  of  the  three  brooks  which  almost  surround 
this  hill.  The  name  signifies,  'At  the  great  fishing  place,' 
massa,  'great,'  amaug,  'fishing  place,'  with  the  locative  affix,  et. 

I  would  suggest  a  corruption  of  Massa-moskeht-auck,  '  Great 
grass  country.' 

Maspenock. 

A  pond  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Hopkinton,  and  in  a  very 
small  part  of  Milford,  now  called  North  pond  (Indian  deed  of 
Feb.  19,  1691-92,  Mendon  Records). 

Mr.  Adin  Ballou,  in  his  history  of  Milford,  says:  '■'■Maspe- 
nock literally  means  'choice  fishing  place,'  from  Namas,  fish  or 
relating  to  fish,  pepenam,  to  choose,  and  ohke,  land,  ground, 
place."     (Hist,  of  Milford,  Ballou,  p.  29.) 

The  name  now  is  also  given  to  Mill  river,  which  rises  in 
the  pond  and  flows  through  Mendon,  Blackstone  and  Woon- 
socket.  The  Indian  word  ' '  Peonogok ' '  Pemaogok  signified 
"  Where  the  path  is  narrow,"  and  Maspeonoguk  would  probably 
mean  '  the  Great  narrow  way  or  path '  and  certainly  could  well 
be  applied  to  the  long  narrow  valley  of  the  Maspenock  river. 


Masquabamisk. 

Mentioned  as  a  boundary  in  deed  of  the  purchase  of  Qua- 
baug  (Brookfield),  from  Shattoockquis  to  Lieut.  Thomas 
Cooper,  Nov.  10th,  1665. 

"  Taking  in  all  the  wet  meadow  and  meadows  called  Mas- 
quabamisk and  Nantomqua  "  (Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  series  1,  vol.  1, 
p.  269). 

It  was  the  valley  of  Mason's  brook  (Temple  Hist.  N.  Brook- 
field). 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Massequockummis. 

Boundary  mentioned  in  deed  of  Quabaug  (Brookfleld)  land 
from  Shattoockquis  to  Lieut.  Thomas  Cooper,  Nov.  10,  1665. 

"Another  brook  where  meadow  is."  (Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  ser. 
1,  vol.  1,  p.  269.) 

'■'■Massequockummis  was  Coy's  brook."  (Temple  Hist,  of  N. 
Brookfleld.) 

Harry  Andrew  Wright  translates  this  name — "The  little 
marshy  meadow  "  (Indian  Deeds,  p.  60). 


Masshapauge. 

Pond  in  the  southern  part  of  Lunenburg,  from  Massa, 
'  large, '  and  paug,  '  pond. '  This  same  name  occurs  with  some 
little  variations  throughout  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut,  and  was  applied  to  the  large  pond  in  the  locality. 
Massapaug,  Mashijjaug,  Shepaug,  were  probably  the  same. 
Trumbull  says  Sebago  lake  in  Maine  was  the  equivalent,  the  in- 
itial "  M  "  having  been  lost. 

I  believe,  however,  that  the  name  of  this  pond  in  Lunen- 
burg is  derived  from,  or  a  corruption  of,  Mache-paug,  and  signi- 
fies '  bad  or  poor  pond, '  as  Unkachewalwiek  and  Catecunemaug 
ponds  are  very  near,  and  both  much  larger.  From  a  survey  in 
1750,  a  marsh  very  near  this  pond  is  described  as  "not  land 
nor  water  and  partly  both  "  (Hist.  Wore.  County,  Hurd,  vol.  1, 
p.  760),  and  this  name  may  first  have  been  applied  to  the 
marshy  pond. 


Matchuk. 

A  meadow  and  brook  in  Brookfleld. 


INDIAN  NAMES 


' '  There  were  two  meadows,  Great  and  Little  Matchuk,  both 
situated  on  Coy's  Brook — '■Matchuk  Brook'  (probably  tak- 
ing its  name  from  the  meadows)  was  the  upper  east  branch  of 
Coy's  stream."     (Temple  Hist,  of  N.  Brookfield.) 

The  name  probably  comes  from  Matche-auke,  '  bad, '  land, 
signifying  that  the  meadows  were  boggy  or  swampy  ground. 

Menamesick,   Menameset.    (Menemesseg,  Mass.  Hist. 
Coll.,  series  1,  vol.  6,  p.  205. 

Meminimisset,  brook  in  the  west  part  of  New  Braintree. 
J.  H.  Temple,  in  history  of  North  Brookfield,  says:  "In 
1675  the  able  bodied  warriors  of  the  Quabaug  clans  suddenly 
left  their  ancestral  towns  and  concentrated  at  the  Mename- 
seek  Country,  in  the  north  part  of  New  Braintree  and  adjacent 
part  of  Barre."  "  They  built  three  towns  on  the  Ware  (Me- 
nameseek)  river."  "  The  lower  of  these  towns  was  on  an  island, 
a  plot  of  dry  land  surrounded  by  wet  swamp  on  the  easterly  side 
of  Wenimisset  brook." 

Mr.  Temple  also  says :  "  The  Indian  name  of  this  stream 
signifies  '  Great  fishing  basket '  or  '  Fishing  weir,'  and  their  vil- 
lage or  villages  built  on  the  banks  would  be  Men-a-me-seek-et, 
contracted  Menameset,  now  more  often  written  Meminimisset  or 
Wenimisset.''''  This  was  the  place  of  Mrs.  Rowlandson 's  second 
remove,  and  here  she  buried  her  murdered  child  in  Feb.,  1676. 

Menamesick  seems  to  have  been  the  name  of  the  river  in 
1686  (Hampden  Co.  Rec,  liber  D,  folio  237);  Menemesseg, 
the  name  of  the  three  Indian  towns  in  1675  (James  Quana- 
paug's  Information,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.),  and  Winnimissett  the 
present  name  of  the  brook  flowing  into  Ware  river. 

Menomee. 

Mentioned  in  registration  of  land  in  Winchendon. 
23 


INDIAN  NAMES 


This  may  be  another  form  or  corruption  of  Monomonack, 
lake,  or  possibly  Menomes,  the  diminutive,  referring  to  that  part 
of  the  great  lake,  which  is  almost  a  little  pond  in  itself,  in 
which  is  Pe  Jcese  Island.      (See  Monomonack.^ 


Metewemesick. 

"An  Indian  settlement  near  Sturbridge,  'Place  of  black 
earth,'  from  the  occurrence  of  the  article."  (Wm.  Wallace 
Tooker,  Algonquian  series,  vol.  8,  p.  33.) 


Miscoe. 

Brook  near  the  eastern  boundary  of  Grafton.  This  name 
without  doubt  is  a  corruption  of  Hassanamisco,  and  is  compara- 
tively modern,  although  named  for  an  Indian.  George's  hill, 
which  is  very  near  it,  was  so  called  from  George  Miscoe,  who 
lived  there,  and  the  brook  is  called  George 's  brook  in  the  His- 
tory of  Grafton  by  Pierce  in  1879. 

(See  Hassanameset.^ 

Miscoe,  Misquoe,  Miskee. 

A  hill  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Mendon  and  in  Upton. 
Whitney's  History  gives  the  two  last  spellings.  Possibly  from 
Mishadchee  Mishchoo,  meaning  'great  hill.' 

Moantuhcake. 

A  hill  near  Washacum. 

Mentioned  in  Indian  deed  of  Quanapaug,  alias  James  Wiser, 
to  John  Prescott,  1669,  "the  hill  beinge  called  by  the  name  of 
Moantuheake."  (From  Shattuck  Manuscripts  in  possession  of 
the  New  England  Genealogical  Society.) 

24 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Mocassin. 

A  brook,  which  rises  in  the  southern  part  of  Phillipston, 
flows  into  Petersham,  and  empties  into  Rutland  brook. 

Mokur,  31okis,  MoTcJcussin  was  the  Indian  name  for  shoe. 

{PI.  Mohkussinasli)  "made  of  their  deer  skin  worn  out." 
(R.  W.) 

This  name  was  probably  given  to  the  brook  by  the  early 
settlers,  not  by  the  Indians,  as  it  is  not  descriptive  or  in  any 
way  pertaining  to  water.  Many  Indian  names  are  misused  in 
this  manner. 


Mohawk. 

Name  of  brook  and  of  two  hills  in  North  Brookfield. 

Mohawk  brook  hi  North  Brookfield  ran  between  the  two 
Mowhawk  hills,  and  into  Sucker  brook  (Temple,  Hist,  of  North 
Brookfield,  p.  15).  Named  from  the  Mohawk  tribe  of  Indians, 
the  head  of  the  five  nations,  formerly  on  Mohawk  river.  The 
name  signifies  Man-eaters,  from  "  mohau"  'he  eats  what  is 
alive,'  "moho,"  'to  eat  alive.'     (R.  W.) 


Monomonack. 

A  lake  in  Rindge,  N.  H.,  a  small  part  extending  into 
Winchendon. 

From  the  termination  of  this  name  in  its  present  form  it 
seems  to  have  been  applied  first  to  the  land,  or  country,  about 
the  lake,   ack,  from  auke,  signifying  'place'  or  'land.' 

The  Indian  name  Monomansuonk  signified  'a  vision,'  and 
moneam  'he  looks  upon,'  or  'he  beholds  it.'  Possibly  this 
name  may  come  from  the  same  root,  and  signifies  '  the  outlook 

25 


INDIAN  NAMES 


place.'     Ezra  S.  Stearns  says,  in  his  history  of  Rindge,  that  the 
name  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  Monan   or  Menem,  '  an 
island'  (Hist,  of  R.,  p.  15).     If  so,  it  maybe  a  corruption  of 
Munnohan-auke,  meaning  'island  place.' 
(See  Monoomock.*) 


Monoosnoc,  Monoosuck. 

Hills  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Leominster  and  southern 
part  of  Fitchburg.  Also  name  of  the  brook  which  rises  at  the 
hill  and  runs  southeasterly  through  the  town  of  Leominster. 
In  Whitney's  History  it  is  called  Wauhnoosnook  (page  197). 
Probably  the  hill  took  the  name  from  the  brook.  I  would  sug- 
gest Monoi  or  Moonoi-suek,  'deep  brook.'  The  "Monoosuck 
Hills''''  are  mentioned  several  times  in  Early  Records  of  Lan- 
caster. 


Mossonachud. 

Boundary  hill  mentioned  in  the  Indian  deed  of  Towtaid 
(Leicester),  "  and  from  thence  to  a  little  hill  called  Mossona- 
chud.''''    Jan.,  1686. 

Mushoon-achu-et  would  signify  at  '  Canoe  Hill,'  possibly  the 
place  where  the  trees  for  canoes  came  from. 

Mussoonk-adchu,  'Hill  covered  with  dry  trees.' 


Muschopauge,  Muscopauge,  Mustapauge. 

A  large  pond  in  the  eastern  part  of  Rutland.  Also  name 
of  a  hill  in  its  vicinity. 

The  pond  is  first  mentioned  in  the  Indian  deed  of  1686 
(recorded  Reg.  of  Deeds,  Middlesex  Co.,  vol.  16,  p.  511)  as 
"  Muscapauge. " 

26 


INDIAN  NAMES 


This  name  may  be  from  Moskeht,  paug,  'grassy  pond,'  and 
the  same  word  signifies  herbs,  and  medicine.  Mr.  Jonas  Reed, 
in  his  History  of  Rutland,  says:"  On  Muschopage  Hill  there  is  a 
place  of  roots  and  herbs  called  the  Indian  garden,"  or  more 
probably  from Musquash-paug  or Mooskou-paug,  'muskrat  pond.' 


Mulpus. 

A  brook.  Rises  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Lunenburg, 
flows  through  northern  Lunenburg  and  through  Shirley  into  the 
Nashua.  Some  historians  believe  it  to  be  an  Indian  name,  but 
Rev.  Seth  Chandler  in  his  History  of  Shirley  writes:  "tradi- 
tion saith  that  it  derived  its  name  from  a  Frenchman  by  the 
name  of  Mulipus,  who  lived  in  Lunenburg,  near  its  source" 
(p.  33). 


Musshauge,  Musehauge. 

Mentioned  in  the  Indian  deed  of  Rutland  as  one  of  the 
boundaries  in  1686.  It  is  there  specified  as  "  a  great  swamp." 
The  derivation  may  possibly  be  from  Matehe-auke,  'bad  land,' 
or  Moskehtauge,  '  grass  land.' 

Nacommuck. 

Brook  in  Brookfield  flowing  into  the  Quaboag  river,  very 
near  the  outlet  of  Quaboag  pond — now  Moore 's  brook. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  the  brook  takes  its  name  from  a 
point  of  land  running  into  the  pond,  or  a  point  of  land  between 
the  river  and  the  brook — from  Naiag,  point  or  corner,  and 
Komuk  an  inclosed  place.  In  Indian  deed  of  Brookfield,  Nov. 
10,  1665,  it  is  mentioned  as  "  brook  where  meadow  is."  (Mass. 
Hist.  Coll.,  vol.   1,  p.    269,  series   1.)      I   should  suppose  it 

27 


INDIAN  NAMES 


meant  an  enclosed  point  of  land.     Komuk  or  variation  Commuck 
was  often  used  for  long  house,  or  long  enclosed  place. 


Naggawoomcom,  or  "Great  Pond." 

Pond  in  the  northern  part  of  Westborough,  now  Chauncy 
pond.  "  It  was  by  the  Indians  anciently  termed  Naggawoomcom 
or  Great  Pond"  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Collections,  2nd  series,  vol. 
10,  p.  84.) 

Naltaug. 

Boundary  in  Indian  deed  of  Quaboag,  Nov.  10,  1665. 

"  To  a  brook  or  stream  called  Naltaug  "  (Mass.  Hist.  Coll., 
ser.  1,  vol.  1,  page  269). 

"Naultaug  was  Dean's  brook  in  Warren  "  (Temple  Hist,  of 
N.  Brookfield). 

Nanantomqua.    See  Masquabamisk. 

' '  Was  the  meadow  and  low  land  lying  south  of  the  river 
and  southwest  of  the  Quabaug  pond "  (Temple  Hist,  of  N. 
Brookfield) . 

Naquag. 

A  general  name  for  the  territory  now  comprising  Rutland, 
Oakham,  Hubbardston,  Barre  and  parts  of  Princeton  and  Pax- 
ton.  Mentioned  in  Indian  deed  of  March  15th,  1686-87,  and 
recorded  1714  (Middlesex  Reg.  of  Deeds,  book  16,  page  511). 
Possibly  the  same  as  Naiyag,  an  angle  or  corner,  and  used  by 
the  Indians  as  a  boundary.     (Naig,  '  point  corner. ') 


28 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Natty. 

Pond  in  Hubbardston. 

If  this  is  an  Indian  name  it  has  been  much  corrupted.  Pos- 
sibly from  Nehtippaen  or  Natippaen.  '  It  is  covered  with 
water. ' 

'•'■Natty  pond,  northeast  from  the  village  is  small  in  extent, 
and  so  surrounded  by  bushes  and  wet  boggy  meadows  that  it 
is  not  a  place  of  much  resort ' '  (Stowe  Hist,  of  Hubbardston, 
p.  5). 


Nashaway,  Nashaue,  Nashawogg,  Lancaster. 

From  Nashaue-ohke,  '  the  land  between, '  and  in  this  place 
referred  to  the  land  between  the  branches  of  the  river.  The 
name  was  transferred  to  the  river  itself.  We  find  this  root  in 
many  Indian  names  in  various  localities,  mutilated  sometimes  in 
many  ways.  Ashawog,  Assawog,  Natchaug  probably  conveyed 
about  the  same  idea.  Shawamug  meant  the  half-way  fishing 
place. 

2.  Ancient  name  of  land  near  Qutnnatisset  between 
Questebaug  and  French  Town  rivers,  now  in  Conn. 


Naukeag,  Naukheag. 

Name  in  early  records  applied  to  the  neighborhood  of  Ash- 
burnham.  Now  the  name  of  two  ponds  in  Ashburnham  called 
in  Whitney 's  History  of  Worcester  County,  Great  and  Little 
Naukheag,  but  on  modern  maps  Upper  and  Lower  Naukeag. 

This  may  be  from  Noohki-auke,  '  soft  land; '  or  possibly  a 
corruption  of  Nagout-auke,  '  sand  place.' 

' '  On  the  banks  of  Little  Naukheag  is  a  white  sand  equal  in 

29 


INDIAN  NAMES 


fineness  and  whiteness  to  that  on  the  banks  of  Cape  Anne  ' ' 
(Whitney's  Hist,  of  Wore.  Co.,  p.  266). 


Neesepegesuck. 

Name  of  two  small  ponds  in  the  southern  central  part  of 
Ashby,  now  called  Wright's  ponds.  This  name,  with  very  little 
doubt,  is  a  corruption  of  Neese-paug-suck  ■=  '  two  pond  brook,' 
the  ponds  taking  the  name  from  the  brook  which  is  now  called 
Pearl  brook. 


Nemoset. 

Mountain  between  Ashby  and  Ashburnham.  In  this  form 
I  can  make  no  translation.  There  is  a  slight  suggestion  of  the 
word  Nammiogset,  Name-auk-set,  'near  the  fishing  place,'  and 
there  are  several  ponds  in  its  close  vicinity.  It  is  now  known 
as  Blood  hill. 


Nichewaug,  Nichewoag,  Nitchawog. 

A  village  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Petersham,  and  the 
original  name  of  land  about  Petersham. 

"  It  had  been  a  seat  for  Indians,  and  was  called  many  years 
by  its  Indian  name,  which  was  Nichewaug.''''  (Whitney's  Hist, 
of  Worcester  Co.)  It  apparently  was  an  important  settlement, 
one  of  the  Indian  trails  from  Lancaster  divided  at  the  foot  of 
4 '  Great  Wachusett, ' '  one  branch  on  the  north  and  the  other  on 
the  south  side  of  the  mountain,  but  both  leading  to  Nichewaug. 

I  believe  this  name  has  the  same  derivation  as  Nashatvag, 
Nashawag,  Ashawog  and  Natchaug,  viz.,  Nashau-auke,  '  the  land 
between.'  If  the  name  was  first  applied  to  the  land  about  the 
present  village  of  Nichewaug,  it  is  appropriate,  as  the  place  is 

30 


INDIAN  NAMES 


completely  surrounded  by  brooks,  with  the  exception  of  a  small 
boundary  on  the  east. 

Or  a  corruption  from  Neeshepaivog,  Neesh  (two)  and  paug 
(corrupted  often  to  Pawog')  (pond).  There  are  two  small 
ponds  very  near  together  in  this  part  of  Petersham. 

Neeshauog,  'Eels.' 

Neeseponset. 

Large  pond  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Dana. 

Possibly  this  may  be  a  corruption  of  Neese-paugset,  '  near 
the  two  ponds.'  The  pond  in  the  present  condition  is  long  and 
very  narrow  in  one  part.  Formerly  it  might  have  been  two 
ponds,  or  the  name  might  have  referred  to  Neeseponset  pond 
and  to  Thompson's  pond  in  New  Salem,  there  being  a  very  short 
distance  between  the  two. 


Nipmuck,  Nipmug,  Nipnet. 

A  tribe  of  Indians.  The  territory  of  the  Nipmuck  Indians. 
The  country  of  the  Niprnucks  is  of  very  uncertain  extent. 
Drake  says  "  its  bounds  were  probably  never  exactly  understood 
by  anybody."  From  another  historian's  account,  "The  Nip- 
net  region  extended  from  Marlborough  to  the  south  end  of 
Worcester  county,  and  around  by  the  Brookfields  through 
Washakins  to  the  northern  boundaries  of  the  state." 

Dr.  Trumbull  defines  the  name  :  ' '  From  nippe,  '  fresh  water  ; ' 
nip-amaug,  '  fresh  water  fishing  place ;  '  Nippinet,  '  in  a  place 
of  water  or  well  watered. ' 

"Nipmucks,  i.  e.,  fresh  water  fishermen,  was  a  general  name 
for  the  inland  Indians  between  eastern  Massachusetts  and  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut.  Their  principal  seats  were  north  of 
the  county  line  in  Worcester  county,  Mass.,  and  along  Nip- 
muck (now  Blackstone)  river. ' ! 

31 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Nipmuck,  Nipnet  were  also  names  for  the  Blackstone  river. 
Nipmug,  one  of  the  original  names  of  the  country  about  Men- 
don  ;  also  the  present  name  of  a  large  pond  in  western  central 
part  of  Mendon,  from  which  probably  the  plantation  takes  its 
name.     Also  name  of  pond  N.  E.  part  of  Webster. 


Nonacoicus,  Nonecoicus,  Nanajcoyijcus. 

A  farm,  brook  and  pond  N.  W.  corner  of  Harvard,  and  the 
S.  W.  part  of  Ayer.  Dr.  Saml.  A.  Green  found  a  writing 
probably  relating  to  this  name,  in  a  book  once  owned  by  Judge 
Sewall,  and  I  quote  part  of  a  paper  he  read  before  the  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc,  "  On  a  fly  leaf  at  the  beginning  of  the  book  is  the 
following  note  in  Judge  Sewall 's  handwriting,  '  Nunaeoquis  sig- 
nifies an  Indian  earthern  pot,  as  Hannah,  Hahatan's  squaw, 
tells  me,  March  24,  169 1, '  which  throws  some  light  on  the 
meaning  of  an  Indian  word.  .  .  . ' '  Dr.  Green  also  read 
a  letter  received  by  him  from  George  J.  Burns,  Esq.,  of  Ayer, 
part  as  follows  :  "  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Nonacoicus  brook  there 
is  a  succession  of  irregular  ridges  or  small  hills  which  surround, 
or  inclose,  various  hollows  or  basins  ' '  (Mass  Hist.  Soc.  Records, 
vol.  8,  2nd  series,  pages  209-10-11). 

From  this  I  believe  the  original  name  may  have  been  Nunae 
ohkuk-es-et.  Nunae,  '  dry, '  '  at  the  small  dry  earth  pots, '  or 
possibly  '  at  the  small  earth  pots  where  water  sifts  through, ' 
derived  from  Nanah-kinig,  a  sieve. 

Nunae- Cowawesuck,  or  nunae  kooivas,  '  dry  pines. ' 


Nookagee,  Nockege. 

Name  of  a  small  stream,  now  Phillips  brook,  rising  in  Ash- 
burnham  and  flowing  into  the  "North  Branch"  Nashua  river 
at  West  Fitchburg.     This  name,  however,  is  supposed  to  have 

32 


INDIAN  NAMES 


been  the  original  name  of  the  North  Branch.     Noekege  Mills  at 
Fitchburg.     In  early  records  "  Naukeag  ' '  was  the  name  for  the 
land  about  or  Dear  Ashburnham,  and  probably  from  this  land 
name  the  water  name  was  taken. 
(See  Naukeag.) 

Ockoocangansett. 

'  *  The  Indian  name  for  the  hill  back  of  the  old  meeting- 
house in  Marlborough"  (Hist,  of  Northborough,  Wore.  Mag., 
vol.  2,  pp.  132-141). 

' '  Hutchinson  quoting  from  Eliot  writes  it  Ogguonikongqua- 
mesut  (p.  156,  vol.  1).  Gookin,  in  1674,  wrote  it  Okommaka- 
me&it. ' ' 

This  hill  had  been  used  as  a  planting  field  by  the  Indians 
probably  for  many  years  before  our  knowledge  of  the  country. 
It  was  deeded  to  Daniel  Gookin  by  the  Indians  in  1677,  and  is 
described  in  the  deed  by  them  as  ' '  being  broken  up  and  planted 
by  us  and  our  predecessors.  " 

The  true  interpretation  of  the  name  I  believe  to  be  very 
doubtful,  but  '  at  the  planting  field  '  may  be  very  near  its  mean- 
ing —  '  *  ohkeehkonat,  "  '  to  plant. '  "  Ohkelikonittinneat, ' '  to  be 
planted  (Cotton,  p.  209). 

Mr.  Wm.  Wallace  Tooker,  in  his  very  careful  analysis  of 
names  of  some  of  the  Indian  praying  towns,  finds  that  several 
were  of  Eliot 's  naming,  and  gives  it  the  meaning  of  "at  the 
place  numbered  to  come  upon ;  that  is  to  say,  a  place  numbered 
among  those  regularly  visited  by  Eliot  ' '  (Algonquian  series, 
vol.  10,  p.  39). 

Packachoog,  Pakachoag,  Boggachoag. 

A  hill  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  city  of  Worcester. 
Lincoln,   in  his  history  of  Worcester,   gives  twelve  different 

33 


INDIAN  NAMES 


spellings  of  this  name.  Gookin  speaks  of  it  in  1675  as  the 
name  of  one  of  the  Indian  praying  villages,  and  says,  "This 
town  is  denominated  from  a  delicate  spring  of  water  that  is 
there."  But  we  also  have  Pachaug  (Pachau-auke),  denoting 
a  turning  place,  and  at  this  point  the  Blackstone  or  Nipmuck 
river  winds  around  the  hill,  and  therefore  might  signify,  '  the 
land  where  the  river  turns. ' 

Also  another  name  of  the  Blackstone  river.     ' '  It  was  called 
by  the  Indians  PackacJwag"  (Worcester  Mag.,  vol.  1,  p.  108). 


Pattaquottuck.    Now  Quaddick. 

A  factory  village  in  the  southeast  part  of  Thompson,  Conn., 
on  Five  Mile  river.  On  Miss  Larned  's  ancient  map  of  Wind- 
ham Co.,  it  is  written  Pottaquattic.  Formerly  in  Massachu- 
setts, north  of  Woodward's  and  Saffery's  line. 

Pattuckakaun,  meaning  a  round  house  (R.  W.  Key,  p.  47) 
may  have  some  bearing  on  this  word. 


Pautauge. 

Hill  in  West  Brookfield  between  Coy's  and  the  West  Rag- 
ged bills  mentioned  in  Brookfield  Book  of  Land  Grants  (Tem- 
ple) .  It  may  be  derived  from  Pootoae,  ' '  bulging  out  or  jutting. ' ' 

Paut-auge.   '  Bulging  out  land.' 

Paupakquamcock,  Paupogquinog. 

A  pond  mentioned  in  the  original  deed  of  Leicester.  '  'And 
westerly,  the  most  southermost  corner,  upon  a  little  pond  called 
Paupakquamock "  (Indian  deed  of  the  township). 

Dr.  Trumbull  gives  hi  his  Indian  names  "Paupasquachuke, 
from  papasku-adchu-auke,  '  double  hill  land.'  "  (I.  N.  in  Conn., 
p.  47.) 

34 


INDIAN  NAMES 


I  believe  this  name  may  have  the  same  derivation,  papa- 
sku-amcock  (from  amaug),  '  the  double  pond  or  fishing  place,' 
and  possibly  it  referred  to  two  ponds  in  the  northern  part  of 
Charlton.  Hon.  Emory  Washburn  says  in  his  history  of  Leices- 
ter, "  The  western  line  cannot  now  be  ascertained  or  identified.' ' 

Penacook,  Penecuck,  Penecook. 

An  old  name  of  that  part  of  the  Nashua  river  in  Lan- 
caster after  being  joined  by  the  North  river  or  North  branch. 

"  Which  hath  bin  named  and  herebye  is  named  Penecuck 
riuer  which  taketh  his  name  and  begineth  at  the  meeting  of 
Nashaway  and  the  North  riuers."  (First  grant  of  lots,  Lan- 
caster, Nourse,  E.  R.  of  Lan.,  p.  33.) 

Henry  S.  Nourse  also  says  in  his  Early  Records  of  Lancas- 
ter (page  33)  that  it  is  "said  to  mean  a  crooked  place,  from 
penaqui  (crooked),  and  alike  (place)." 

Roger  Williams  gives  penagi,  'crooked'  (p.  56).  Beau- 
camp  in  his  "Indian  Names  in  New  York"  gives  PennacooJc, 
'  a  crooked  place. ' 

Peonogok  signifies  "  Where  the  path  is  narrow,"  and  this 
translation  may  be  the  right  one. 

Penkese. 

An  island  in  Monomonack  lake,  N.  E.  part  of  Winchendon. 

Possibly  a  corruption  of  Pongqui-eset,  '  at  the  little  shallow 
place,'  referring  to  that  part  of  the  lake — Pongui,  'shallow,' 
Ponkque,  '  dry. ' 

Podunk. 

"  Quabaug  Pond,  now  more  generally  denominated  Podunk, 
from  a  tract  of  meadow  adjoining  which  the  Indians  called 
Podunk."     (Whitney's  Wor.  Co.  History,  p.  77.) 

35 


INDIAN  NAMES 


A  name  misapplied  to  Quabaug  pond  in  Brookfield.  Origin- 
ally it  was  a  small  meadow,  given  as  one  of  the  boundaries  in 
Indian  deed  of  Brookfield,  Nov.  10,  1665.  Mr.  J.  H.  Temple, 
in  his  History  of  North  Brookfield,  says  :  "  The  name  signified 
4  Place  of  burning, '  i.  e.,  burning  captives.  "     (Page  28.) 

2.  A  brook  in  So.  Windsor,  Conn. 

3.  Potunk,  a  part  of  Shinnecock  bay,  in  Southampton,  L. 
I.  'Place  where  the  foot  sinks'  (Wm.  Wallace  Tooker),  and 
I  think  probably  the  same  translation  applies  to  Podunk. 

Pompociticut  and  Shabbukin. 

' '  Were  the  names  for  land  about  Stow  from  two  notable 
Mils."     (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  vol.  10,  series  2,  p.  83.) 

Pomagusset. 

Brook  rising  in  the  N.  E.  part  of  Rutland,  flowing  west  into 
Ware  river.  Also  name  of  a  meadow  through  which  the  brook 
runs. 

This  may  be  a  corruption  of  Pummee-kussehtanip,  which 
would  mean  '  oily  brook  '  or  '  stream, '  or  Pummech  kussehtanip, 
'  a  stream  going  across  or  crossing  '  (some  path  or  trail) . 

Pompwanganug,  Pomponagang. 

Formerly  in  Massachusetts.  Hill  between  Woodstock  and 
Thompson,  very  near  the  Massachusetts  line.  (Miss  Lamed 's 
map  in  History  of  Windham  Co.) 

Ponikin,  Ponnakin. 

(See  Quassaponikin.*) 

Name  now  given  to  a  hill  in  the  N.  E.  part  of  Charlton,  near 

36 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Little  river.     Probably  means,    'The  fording  place, '  or  '  The 
shallow  place. '  (See  QuassaponiJcin.*) 

Panoquin  was  the  name  of  a  Narragansett  who  aided  in  the 
attack  on  Lancaster  in  February,  1675,  purchasing  Mrs.  Row- 
landson  of  the  Narragansett  who  captured  her  at  that  time  (R. 
I.  Hist.  Coll.,  3,  p.  173). 

Poohookapog,  Pookookappog,  Poohpoohsaug. 

Or  Alum  pond.  In  the  northwest  corner  of  Sturbridge. 
This  pond  was  in  the  original  tract  of  land  of  1,000  acres  given 
to  the  Rev.  John  Eliot  by  the  Indians  (see  Wallum).  On  a 
map  made  from  a  survey  of  this  land  June  2,  1725,  this  entry 
is  made  :  ' '  The  name  Poohpoohsaug  or  Alum  pond  signifies  cats 
and  dogs  in  the  Nipmuck  tongue.  "  From  another  source  "It 
has  been  ascertained  that  both  these  names  are  of  native  dialect; 
Alum  signifies  dog,  and  Poohookapog  is  a  corruption  of  the  word 
that  signifies  cats,  Poohpoohsnog,  cat  is  Poopoh.,}  (Amidon's 
Hist.  Coll.,  page  11,  vol.  2.) 

Popoloup. 

An  island  in  Monomonack  lake,  N.  E.  part  of  Winchendon. 

Poquaig,  Payquaoge. 

(Worcester  Magazine.)  Indian  name  of  land  about  Winch- 
endon, also  of  Athol,  and  of  Miller 's  river,  which  rises  in 
Minomee  pond  in  Winchendon,  flows  through  Royalston  and 
Athol. 

This  name  originally  must  have  applied  to  the  land  about 
the  river,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  derived  from  Pauqu'unauke,  sig- 
nifying '  cultivated  land ; '  '  cleared  land. '  This  name  is  found 
frequently  with  slightly  varying  form.     In  Whitney 's  History 

37 


INDIAN  NAMES 


of  Worcester  County  it  is  spelled  Bayquage.     As  the  Indian 
name  of  land  near  Athol  it  is  given  Pequag,  Payquage,  Pequiog. 

Pottapoug. 

Pond  and  hill  in  the  S.  W.  part  of  Dana  —  outlet  into 
Chicopee  river.  Pautapaug  denotes  a  bay  or  cove  that  has  a 
narrow  inlet  from  a  river  or  the  sea.  The  literal  meaning  is  a 
"bulging  out  "  or  '  jutting'  of  the  water  inland.  (Trumbull.) 
The  hill  probably  took  the  name  from  the  pond. 

Potepog,  Potepaug,  Potebaug. 

A  stream  and  meadow  in  Brookfield.  This  name,  although 
very  like  the  preceding,  is  probably  the  same  as  Pootapaug, 
signifying  a  boggy  or  swampy  land,  " Pe-to-beg,'n  'a  bog' 
(Schoolcraft). 

Mr.  Levi  B.  Chase  states  that  the  name  in  Brookfield  comes 
from  the  "  Putikookuppoggs,  Indians,"  which  is  the  old  name 
made  shorter  and  pronounceable. ' '  The  home  of  this  small 
tribe  was  probably  in  a  group  of  four  or  five  villages  near  Fisk- 
dale. 

Ouabagud  (Eliot,  1649),  Quabacutt. 

' <  The  other  large  and  permanent  Quabaug  village  within 
our  present  town  limits  which  became  noted  in  our  annals  was 
located  in  the  east  part  of  Brookfield,  at  the  southeasterly  end 
of  Quabaug  Pond. ' '     (Temple  Hist,  of  N.  Brookfield.) 

(See  Quaboag.} 

Quabaug,  Quebaog,  Queboag,  Quoboag,  Beookfield. 

Name  of  a  large  pond  and  river  in  Brookfield.     Eliot  wrote 

it  in  1649  as   "  Quobagud. "     This  may  be  a  corruption  of 

38 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Quebaquaug,  which  Trumbull  says  from  Aquebapaug ,  Aquabe- 
paug-auke,  may  mean  either  land  'before  the  pond'  or  the 
'  pond  before '  some  other  pond  or  some  tract  of  land.  Dr. 
Parsons,  in  his  Indian  Names  of  Connecticut,  gives  Aquabapaug, 
a  pond  in  Connecticut  near  the  head  of  Paucatuck  river,  as 
meaning  '  muddy  water. ' 

Quaboag  Lane,  "  One  of  the  oldest  ways  in  the  town  of  Ox- 
ford ;  perhaps  originally  an  Indian  trail  was  the  ' '  Quaboag  ' ' 
or  Brookfield  "Lane,"  which  fording  the  river  at  the  stone 
arch  bridge  entered  the  8-rod  way  from  the  west. ' '  (Daniels, 
History  of  Oxford.) 

J.  H.  Temple,  in  his  history  of  North  Brookfield,  says, 
"There  is  little  doubt  that  the  name  of  our  place,  as  pro- 
nounced by  the  Indians,  was  Squapauke  or  Squabaug.  It  is  a 
compound  word  which  signifies  '  red  water  place '  or  '  red 
pond, '  so  called  from  the  reddish,  iron  stained  gravel  which 
forms  the  bottom  and  shores  of  the  several  ponds.  "  "  Some  of 
the  early  spelling  was  Squabauge,  tSquabage."  In  "New  Eng- 
land's Prospect"  written  in  1634,  "  Squi"  is  translated  'red,' 
therefore,  Squi-baug.  Quabaug  river  is  formed  by  rivers  from 
Oakham  and  Rutland  which  unite  in  Brookfield. 

Quacumouasit. 

A  pond  between  Sturbridge  and  Brookfield,  south  of  Quo- 
boag  pond,  by  which  it  is  connected  by  a  canal,  now  called 
South  pond.  Possibly  the  name  of  a  Quabaug  sachem  men- 
tioned in  a  letter  from  William  Pynchon  to  Gov.  Winthrop 
written  in  1648,  although  the  name  is  there  written  "Quacun- 
quasit. ' ' 

Quag. 

Pond  in  the  S.  E.  part  of  Gardner,  one  of  the  sources  of 
Pew  brook. 

39 


INDIAN  NAMES 


In  this  form  I  believe  the  name  must  be  much  corrupted,  or 
a  part  of  it  is  lost.  In  its  present  form  the  nearest  approach  to 
an  interpretation  might  be  Koo-auke  or  Koo-ag,  '  pine  tree  land. ' 

Also  name  given  to  Waushacum  pond,  Sterling. 

Quanitick. 

Mentioned  as  one  of  the  boundaries  in  the  Indian  deed  of 
Rutland,  dated  Dec.  22,  1686  (Jonas  Reed,  Hist,  of  Rutland, 
p.  9). 

Possibly  a  corruption  of  Qunnuhqui-tugk,  '  tall  tree  '  that 
served  as  a  landmark ;  or  from  Quinni  —  variations  Quan, 
Quon  (long)  and  tugk —  variations  Tuk,  Tak  (tree),  'a  long 
tree. ' 

In  a  certified  copy  of  this  deed  of  Rutland,  from  the  Middle- 
sex Co.  Records  in  Cambridge,  the  name  is  written  Quenibeck. 

Quasaponikin.     Corruption  Ponikin. 

A  hill  in  the  N.  E.  part  of  Lancaster,  also  the  same  name 
given  to  a  meadow  and  brook  in  the  early  records  of  the  town. 
A  village  in  Lancaster  is  now  called  Ponikin.  I  believe  this 
name  applied  first  to  a  shallow  part  of  the  river  near  where  the 
brook  enters  the  Nashua.  The  Northern  Indians  have  the 
word  "  Poonichuan,"  "  where  the  current  stops. ' '  The  Natick 
dialect  has  "Ponquag,  "  "a  ford,  "  also  "  Penaekinnu,  "  "it 
spreads,"  and  Josiah  Cotton  gives  Pongqui  as  "shallow,"  in 
his  vocabulary.  Dr.  Trumbull  says  in  his  definition  of  "  Quas- 
sapaug,"  "  K'chepaug,"  "greatest  pond,"  a  name  easily  cor- 
rupted to  Quassapaug . ' '  (Trumbull,  I.  N.  Conn.,  p.  59). 
Quassaponikin,  corrupted  from  k'che-ponquag-in,  would  mean, 
"At  the  greatest  fording  place." 

Probably  same  name  in  Groton,  would  signify  a  fording 
place.  Although  the  name  in  Groton  is  spelled  Quosopanagon, 
the  name  of  a  meadow,  "  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  " 

40 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Quassuck,  Quassink. 

Now  Lead  Mine  pond  in  the  western  part  of  Sturbridge, 
mentioned  in  letter  of  William  Pynchon  to  Stephen  Day  in 
1644,  "that  place  of  Quassuck."  I  should  suppose  the  name 
was  applied  first  to  Lead  Mine  brook  from  its  termination, 
"suck,"  which  signifies  "a  stream  flowing  out  of  a  pond  or 
lake."     (Trumbull.) 

Quassuck,  the  largest  outlet.  Possibly  derived  from  Qus- 
suk,  with  a  lost  locative  suffix,  et  or  ut,  signifying,  '  at  the 
rock.'  This  was  the  Black  Lead  Mine  property  of  which  John 
Winthrop,  Jr.,  eldest  son  of  Gov.  John  Winthrop,  received  a 
grant  from  the  General  Court  in  1644.  The  existence  of  this 
lead  was  known  as  early  as  thirteen  years  after  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims.      (See  Tantiusques.') 

Possibly  '  Pine  tree  brook, '  Cowawsuck. 


Quinebaug. 

A  river  which  rises  in  the  town  of  Brimfield,  in  the  county 
of  Hampshire,  and  runs  east  into  the  county  of  Worcester 
through  Sturbridge,  Southbridge  and  Dudley,  into  Connecticut. 

A  long  pond  in  the  S.  E.  part  of  Killingly,  Conn.  The 
Quinebaug  tribe  of  Indians  and  the  river  took  their  name  from 
the  pond.  Qunnuhbagge  (Gov.  Endicott,  1651) — Quinibauge 
(Comi.  Col.   Rec,    1671) — Quinni-paug,    'long  pond.' 

This  name,  with  slight  variations,  is  found  often  in  the  New 
England  States. 

The  land  south  of  Wabbaquassit  and  Mahmunsqueeg,  now 
included  in  the  towns  of  Plainfield  and  Canterbury,  Conn.,  was 
the  Quinebaug  country  inhabited  by  the  Quinebaugs  (Miss 
Lamed,  History  of  Windham  Co.,  vol.   1,  p.   2). 

4i 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Qtiinepoxet. 

Name  of  a  pond  in  Princeton  and  Holden,  and  also  of  a 
river,  and  hill  in  Holden.  The  river  and  hill  probably  taking 
the  name  from  the  pond;  "appears  to  be  a  corruption  of  the 
diminutive  of  Quinebaug,  with  the  local  affix  ;  Quinni-paug-es-et, 
'  at  the  little  long  pond. '  ' '     (Trumbull.) 


Quinetusset,  Quantisset,  Quanutusset  (Eliot). 

An  Indian  praying  village  in  Thompson,  Conn.,  now 
Thompson  hill.  The  ruins  of  an  old  Indian  fort  stood  on  this 
hill  in  1727.     Miss  Lamed  gives  the  name  Quinnatisset. 

On  the  theory  that  some  of  the  Indian  praying  towns  were 
of  Eliot's  naming  William  Wallace  Tooker  gives  Quanutuss- 
es-et  as  its  probable  etymology  "  at  the  place  long  my  supply  " 
or  "  I  have  long  supplied."  (Algonquian  series,  vol.  10,  p. 
42.)  I  would  suggest  Quinne-tuckset,  'near  the  tall  tree, '  as  a 
possible  translation. 


Qliinshepaug,  Mendon  and  Milford. 

In  Barber's  Historical  Collections  it  is  stated  that  Nipmug 
seemed  to  be  the  original  name  of  Mendon,  but  in  1667  it  was 
called  Quinshepauge.  It  seems  probable  that  both  names  were 
originally  given  to  the  pond  now  called  Tuft 's  pond.  Nipmug 
Nippe,  '  fresh  water, '  amaug,  '  fishing  place. '  Quinshepaug 
probably  either  from  k'che-paug,  i.  e.,  'greatest  pond,'  as  it 
certainly  is  the  largest  pond  in  that  part  of  the  county,  or  from 
Qunuosuog-amaug,  'Pickerel  fishing  place  '  (see  Quinsigamond'). 


42 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Quinsigamond,      Quansigemog,      Quansigamaug, 
Ouansigamug. 

Original  name  of  Worcester.  A  small  lake  or  large  pond 
between  Worcester  and  Shrewsbury  ;  also  the  name  of  a  village, 
taking  its  name  from  the  lake,  forming  part  of  Worcester,  from 
Qunnosuog-amaug ',  "the  pickerel  (or  long  nose)  fishing  place." 
Even  at  the  present  day  this  lake  is  noted  for  its  pickerel 
fishing. 

Mr.  William  Lincoln,  in  his  history  of  Worcester,  gives 
nine  different  forms  of  this  name,  all  taken  from  old  deeds,  etc. 
Worcester,  in  the  edition  of  Hubbard's  Narrative,  published  in 
1677,  is  described  as  "  a  village  called  Quonsigamog. " 

Also  the  original  name  of  land  about  Hopkinton. 

Also  name  of  small  river  in  Grafton. 

Quissitt,  Quissett. 

A  hill  in  the  N.  E.  part  of  Blackstone  and  in  Mendon.  In 
this  form  the  interpretation  is  only  tentative,  as  probably  the 
name  is  much  corrupted.  Possibly  Ko-oeset,  from  Ko-owa  or 
Koo,  '  pine  tree, '  with  the  diminutive  es,  and  the  locative  suffix 
et.     (Cu-we,  'pine  tree,'  Del.) 

Coivisick,  the  ancient  name  of  Blackw ell's  brook  in  Wind- 
ham Co.,  Conn. 

Ouitemug  or  Nipmuck. 

A  hill  in  Dudley  about  a  mile  and  a  half  S.  E.  of  Dudley 
hill. 

In  1630,  upon  receiving  a  message  from  the  English  that 
they  were  much  in  need  of  corn,  John  Quittamug  carried  a 
bushel  and  a  half  on  his  back  to  Boston.  He  again  visited 
Boston  in  1724,  and  was  supposed  to  be  then  112  years  old 

43 


INDIAN  NAMES 


(Hutchinson,  Hist,  of  Mass.,  vol.  2,  p.  276,  note).     He  lived 
near  the  hill  which  bears  his  name. 


Saccarappa. 

Name  now  given  to  a  pond  and  the  land  about  it  in  the  S. 
E.  part  of  Oxford. 

This  name  was  not  used  in  the  locality  until  after  1845. 
The  wife  of  a  Mr.  Peters  who  lived  here  came  from  Saccarappa, 
Maine,  and  it  was  named  in  her  honor  (Daniels '  Hist,  of  Ox- 
ford). 

Sagatabscot. 

A  hill  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Worcester,  probably  from 
siogke,  '  hard, '  ompsk,  '  rock, '  and  the  local  affix  signifying 
'  the  place  of  hard  rock. ' 

A  quarry  was  extensively  worked  on  the  south  end  of  Saga- 
tabscot hill  for  many  years.  It  was  on  this  hill  that  Digory 
Serjent  lived  about  1695,  and  where  he  was  killed  by  the  In- 
dians in  1703  or  1704. 

"  The  prefix  sioge  and  soggoh  of  Eliot,  '  hard'  (Abm.  saaghi. 
Chip.  Sougi)  distinguishes  the  kind  of  stone  most  used  by  the 
Indians  for  making  axes,  lance  heads,  pestles,  etc. ' '  (Trum- 
bull.) 

Sasagookapaug. 

A  pond  mentioned  as  a  boundary  in  the  original  Indian  deed 
of  Hardwick  in  1686,  "easterly  the  southermost  corner  upon  a 
pond  called  Sasagookapaug. ' ' 

This  name  may  be  from  Sesegkpaug  or  Sesekqpaug,  *  adder 
pond' — Sesequaog,  '  adders  or  poisonous  adders. '  Suckachgook, 
*  black  snake'  (Del.). 

44 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Sasaketasick,  Sassakataffick. 

Mentioned  as  a  boundary  in  the  original  deed  of  Rutland, 
March  15,  1686-87  (Middlesex  Regs,  of  Deeds,  book  16,  p. 
511),  "So  to  Sasaketasick  which  is  the  south  corner.  " 

Sesek,  'Rattlesnake'  (R.  W.),  Seasicke  (Wood). 

Senexet. 

"Valley  and  meadow  land  adjoining  Muddy  Brook  in 
Woodstock,  "  Connecticut,  but  formerly  in  Massachusetts, 
north  of  the  Woodward's  and  Saffrey's  line.  Near  Pomponagang 
hill.   (On  ancient  map  of  Windham  Co.,  vol.  1,  Miss  Larned.) 

Shabikin,  Shabokin,  Chaboken,  etc. 

The  early  name  of  a  tract  of  land  in  the  N.  W.  part  of  Har- 
vard, formerly  a  part  of  Stow  Leg.  I  believe  this  name  must 
have  been  originally  Chejnohkin.  "Chepiohke, ' '  the  Indian  name 
for  "  hell, "  "the  place  apart,"  "the  place  of  separation," 
with  the  locative  suffix,  in  or  en.  A  curious  indication  that 
this  was  the  original  signification  is  the  fact  that  the  pond  in 
this  tract  of  land  has  always  been  called  '  Hell  Pond. ' 

"Shabikin  seems  to  have  been  the  original  designation  of 
that  portion  of  Stow  Leg  which  includes  Hell  pond. ' '  (Nourse, 
Hist,  of  Harvard,  p.  72.) 

"  The  pioneers  always  called  it  Hell  Pond,  and  so  it  is  re- 
corded in  the  worn  and  yellow  documents  of  their  day  that  have 
come  down  to  us. ' '  (Nourse,  Hist,  of  Harvard,  p.  6Q.^) 

Souhegan,  Sowhagon. 

River  rising  in  the  ponds  of  eastern  Ashburnham,  flows 
through  the  N.  W.  part  of  Ashby  into  New  Hampshire. 

45 


INDIAN  NAMES 


In  Livermore  and  Putnam 's  History  of  Wilton  the  mean- 
ing is  given  as  "  '  River  of  the  Plains, '  derived  from  the  Indian 
name  '■Susheki, '  signifying  a  plain.  Another  derivation  is  from 
the  Indian  word  '■Souhegenoe1  meaning  Crooked.  "  I  fail  to  find 
other  authorities  for  these  derivations. 


Squabaug.    (See  Quaboag.) 

Squannacook. 

A  river  which  rises  in  the  northern  part  of  Townsend,  forms 
the  boundary  between  Shirley  and  Groton,  and  flows  into  the 
Nashua.  Possibly  the  name  is  a  corruption  of  tSquamicuk,  which 
would  mean  salmon  place — "m'squamaug,"  'salmon,'  and 
"auke,"  'place,'  or  with  "w£"  would  signify  the  'place  for 
taking  salmon. '  We  know  from  early  records  there  were  many 
salmon  in  these  rivers. 

Also  name  of  a  village  in  W.  part  of  Groton. 

A  very  similar  name  is  found  in  Rhode  Island. 

iSquannakonk,  a  swamp  in  Rehoboth,  where  Annawon  was 
captured  by  Capt.  Church,  1676.  "Mr.  Drake  says  (edition 
of  Mather's  Brief  History,  p.  180)  this  name  probably  signifies 
'  Swamp  of  night, '  ' '  but  Dr.  Trumbull  wrote,  '  'I  can  make  noth- 
ing of  this  name ;  it  is  certainly  corrupted,  and  has  lost  at  least 
one  (initial)  syllable."  (Church's  Philip's  War,  part  1,  page 
163,  note.) 

Sumpauge. 

A  pond,  one  of  the  boundaries  in  Indian  deed  of  Rutland 
(Middlesex  Record  of  Deeds,  dated  Dec.  22,  1686,  entered 
Apr.  14,  1714,  libro  16,  page  511). 

Sumhup  was  the  Indian  name  for  beaver.  Roger  Williams 
gives  Sumhuppaug  as  the  plural  (page  95),  'Beaver  pond.' 

46 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Tahanto. 

I  believe  the  name  was  suggested  by  the  Hon.  Henry  S. 
Nourse  for  the  Indian  name  now  given  to  a  private  country 
place  in  Harvard. 

George  Tahanto,  the  name  of  an  Indian  Sagamore,  nephew 
of  Sholan,  the  great  Sachem  of  the  Nashaways.  Both  of  these 
names  are  mentioned  several  times  in  the  early  records  of  Lan- 
caster. "  Nov.  6,  1702,  a  petition  of  the  Town  of  Lancaster 
praying  liberty  to  purchase  of  George  Tahanto,  Indian  Saga- 
more, a  certain  tract  of  land, "  etc.  (Massachusetts  Records.) 
A  part  of  Harvard  was  taken  from  Lancaster. 

Tantousque,  Tantiusques. 

The  name  by  which  the  mineral  region,  now  in  Sturbridge, 
was  known  in  1644.      (Amidon's  Hist.  Coll.) 

Probably  a  corruption  of  the  name  of  an  Indian  '  *  Mohegan 
captain  "  mentioned  in  Winthrop's  Hist,  of  New  England. 
"Tantiquieson."      (Page  464,  note  N.) 

"A  Moheague  captain,  "  Tantoquieson  (Drake).  Levi 
B.  Chase  in  Quinabaug  Historical  Society  Leaflets,  No.  7,  says 
that  the  translation  of  the  word  is  "between  breast-shaped 
hills." 

Tataesset,  Tataeset.    (See  Tatntjck,  Tatnick.  ) 

Lincoln,  in  his  history  of  Worcester,  says,  page  17:  "The 
western  hills,  bearing  originally  the  appellation  of  Tataeset,  cor- 
rupted, in  common  use,  into  Tatnuck,  were  occupied  by  smaller 
hamlets,"  etc.  I  think  probably  these  are  two  separate 
names,  as  the  same  name,  Tatnick,  was  given  to  a  hill  and 
brook  in  Brooklyn,  Conn.,  and  in  this  form  is  translatable, — 

47 


INDIAN  NAMES 


and  if  so  I  would  suggest  that  the  name,  Tataesset,  was  the  hill 
and  land  about  the  Cascade,  and  is  derived  from  Tattan-hassun 
and  the  locative  affix,  signifying  'At  the  place  of  the  rocking 
(shaking)  stone, '  as  on  the  plateau  at  the  top  of  the  Cascade 
there  is  a  very  large  boulder  weighing  many  tons  that  tra- 
dition says  could  be  moved  or  rocked  by  very  slight  pressure. 
The  rock  is  now  split  in  two,  but  even  in  its  present  condition 
it  is  well  known. 


Tatnuck,  Tatnick. 

A  village  in  the  western  part  of  Worcester.  Also  name  of 
the  brook  at  the  same  place,  the  town  and  brook  taking 
the  name  from  the  hill.  Dr.  Trumbull  says,  "probably  from 
k't-adene-k,  'at  the  great  hill'  (the  equivalent  of  Katahdin 
with  locative  affix ;  or  perhaps   Wut-aden-ek,  '  at  the  hill.  '  ' ' 

Hill  and  brook  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Brooklyn,  Conn., 
the  same  name,  "  Tatnick. ' ' 


Titicut,  Tittituck. 

Keh-teih-tuk-qut  (Eliot  Bible,  Gen.  XV:  18,  "on  the  great 
river").     (See  KuttatuckS) 

Towtaid,  Leicester. 

With  very  little  doubt  this  name  is  a  corruption  of  T'ohteck 
or  Act-ohteak,  and  signifies,  '  At  the  open  (or  cultivated)  field. ' 
The  early  settlers  of  Leicester  found  on  Bald  hill,  which  is  in 
the  easterly  part  of  the  town,  a  little  N.  W.  from  the  village  of 
Cherry  Valley,  a  large  field  cleared  and  cultivated  by  the  In- 
dians. (Washburn's  Hist,  of  Leicester,  p.  21.) 
(See  Wataquadoek .) 

48 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Uncachewalunk,  Unkachewalunk,  Kachewalunck. 

A  large  pond  in  the  S.   W.  part  of  Lunenburg,   on  the 
boundary  line  of  Leominster. 


Vaughan,  Hill. 

A  hill  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Bolton. 

Hon.  Henry  S.  Nourse  in  an  address  on  Indian  names  before 
the  Clinton  Historical  Society,  said  '  *  it  was  first  known  to  early 
settlers  as  Van's  or  Vahan's  hill,  and  as  no  white  man  of 
that  name  appears  here,  or  even  in  the  bay  towns,  as  an  early 
settler, ' '  he  believed  the  name  to  be  of  Indian  origin. 


Wabaquasset,  Wabaquassuck. 

Name  applied  to  "  a  tract  west  of  the  Quinebaug  river  north 
of  a  line  running  northwesterly  from  the  junction  of  the  Quine- 
baug and  Assawaga  rivers. ' '  (Miss  Lamed 's  History  of  Wind- 
ham Co.,  1,  page  1.)  A  small  portion  of  this  tract  was  probably 
in  Worcester  county.  This  was  the  country  of  the  Wabbaquasset 
Indians,  who  probably  were  a  part  of  the  Nipmuck  tribe.  It 
was  the  original  name  of  Woodstock. 

"  John  Pynchon,  1675,  wrote  the  name  Wabaquassic,  which 
might  be  interpreted  '  White  stone, '  but  Eliot  (in  Mass.  Arch. 
Indians,  1-146)  has  Wabuhquoshish,  which  is  certainly  the  equiva- 
lent of  Abockquos'inash,  the  mats  for  covering  the  house." 
(R.  Williams)  (Trumbull's  I.  N.  Conn.)  Trumbull  also  says, 
' '  The  name  originally  belonged  to  some  particular  locality 
where  the  Indians  obtained  flags  used  for  making  mats. ' '  The 
hills  of  Wabaquasset  were  famous  even  in  earliest  Colonial 
days  for  their  yield  of  corn,  and  it  was  a  Wabaquasset  Indian 

49 


INDIAN  NAMES 


who,  when  our  forefathers  were  in  want  of  bread,  soon  after 
their  landing,  carried  a  bushel  and  a  half  of  corn  upon  his  back 
the  whole  way  from  the  south  part  of  Worcester  county  to 
Boston  for  the  relief  of  the  inhabitants.  (Wore.  Mag.,  1,  p. 
143  ;  Miss  Lamed 's  Hist,  of  Windham  Co.,  1,  p.  2.) 


Wacuntug,  Wacantuck,  Wacatuc. 

The  Indian  name  of  land  about  Uxbridge. 

This  name  maybe  a  corruption  of  Wongun-tuek-et — *  At 
the  bend  of  the  river. '  The  name  could  appropriately  be  ap- 
plied to  parts  of  the  Blackstone,  West,  or  Mumford  rivers. 

"  There  is  yet  another  praying  town  in  the  Nipmuck  coun- 
try called  Waeuntug.  It  lieth  about  ten  miles  from  Hassana- 
mesitt  to  the  south  of  this  place. ' '  (Daniel  Gookin,  Mass. 
Hist.  Coll.,  series  1,  vol.  1,  p.  194.) 


Wachusett,  Wadchusett. 

A  mountain  in  Princeton.  The  same  name  is  also  given  to 
a  brook  in  Princeton,  and  to  a  small  lake  in  Princeton  and 
Westminster.  The  name,  which  signifies  'near'  or  'in  the 
vicinity'  of  the  mountain,  has  been  transferred  to  the  mountain 
itself. 

Wadehu,    mountain,  with  the  locative  suffix,  set,  '  near. ' 


Watchusecic. 

Hill  in  Uxbridge,  mentioned  in  an  address  at  Uxbridge  by 
Hon.  Henry  Chapin  in  1864.  In  this  form  it  is  probably  a 
corruption.  It  is  very  similar  to  "  Wachusett "  in  Princeton 
and  may  be  a  diminutive,  meaning  'at'  or  '  near  the  little  hill. ' 

(See  Wachusett.') 

50 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Wallamanumpscook. 

Mentioned  as  a  boundary  in  Indian  deed  of  Rutland,  Dec. 
22,  1686  (Middlesex  Reg.  of  Deeds,  libro  16,  page  511,  Apr. 
14,  1714). 

This  name  is  very  similar  to  Wullamanick  with  the  addition 
of  "  umps"  and  possibly  may  have  designated  '  a  place  where  a 
rock  rose  from  red  paint  ground '  (see  Wullamanick)  ;  ompsk, 
"  standing  or  upright  rock, ' '  ock,  '  ground '  or  '  place. ' 


Wallum. 

Pond  and  hill,  southwest  part  of  Douglas,  the  pond  ex- 
tending into  Burrillville,  R.  I.  "  So  called  from  a  Quinebaug 
captain,  whose  name  (meaning  '  The  Fox'  Peq.  A'wumps)  was 
variously  written :  Allums,  Allumps,  Hyems,  JTyemps,  lams, 
etc.  — Conn.  Col.  Rec,  IV,  272,  333,  351  (Trumbull). 

2.  Alum  pond,  in  the  N.  W.  part  of  Sturbridge,  and  Little 
Allum  pond  in  the  N.  E.  part  of  Holland,  Mass.,  sources  of 
the  Quinebaug  river. 

"The  Indian  proprietors  of  Quaboag,  now  Brookfield,  had 
given  to  the  Rev.  John  Eliot,  late  of  Roxbury,  Clerk,  deceased, 
' '  a  tract  of  land  at  a  place  known  as  '  Alum  ponds '  lying  in 
the  wilderness  west  of  Brookfield,  of  one  thousand  acres,  as  a 
tribute  of  their  affection  for  him, "  date  of  the  grant  Sept.  27, 
1655.  This  grant  was  confirmed  by  the  legislature  in  1715  to 
John  Eliot,  his  grandson.  "    (Mrs.  Freeland,  Hist,  of  Oxford.) 

(See  Wullamanick.) 


Wanchatopick,  Wonketopick. 

Boundary  in  Indian  deed   of   Dec.   22,   1686,  from  John 
Wiser  alias   Qualapunit  et   al.  to  Henry  Willard  et  al.  land 

5i 


INDIAN  NAMES 


under  general  name  of  Naquag  ' '  running  north  to  Quenibeck 
and  to  Wonketo-piok. ' ' 

Rutland  or  Wanchatopeck  pond  on  the  S.  W.  border  of 
Princeton.     (Hanaford,  Hist,  of  Princeton.) 

Wanommock,  Wanomchouck. 

Ponds   described  in  Lieut.  Fairbank's  Journal  as  "called 
thirty  miles  from  Lancaster."    (E.  R.  of  L.,  Nourse,  p.  219.) 
Wenomin-auke,  '  Grape  land, '  or  '  Grape  country. ' 
Wenomeneash,  'Grapes.'     (R.  W.,  p.  91.) 

Wanoosnoc. 

The  name  of  a  road  in  Fitchburg. 
(See  Monoosnoc.*) 

Wapososhequash. 

A  hill  a  mile  or  two  west  of  what  is  now  Woodstock  hill, 
Wabbaquasset  (Miss  Lamed,  Hist,  of  Windham  Co.,  vol.  1,  p. 
10). 

Watananock. 

Another  name  for  the  Nashua  river. 

"  Nashaivay  or  Watananock  river."  (Colonial  Records,  4, 
part  11,  p.  569.)  I  can  find  no  satisfactory  translation  for  this 
name. 

Dr.  Trumbull  says,  in  regard  to  the  derivation  of  the  name 
"  Weantinock,  "  "  the  equivalent  of  Chip.  Waiariatanaug,  'where 
the  water  whirls'  (Baraja).  It  may,  however,  designate  the 
place  where  the  river  winds  about  the  hill  —  Waen-adn-auke,  or 
'land  about  the  hill.'"  (Trumbull,  I.  N.  Conn.,  p.  80.) 
Watananock  may  have  the  same  derivation.     The  termination 

52 


INDIAN  NAMES 


in  its  present  form  ' '  ock ' '  certainly  applies  to  land  rather  than 
to  water,  in  the  Natick  tongue. 


Wataquadock. 

"  By  which  the  great  ridge  which  bounds  the  Nashaway 
valley  on  the  east  has  ever  been  known.' '  (Bibl.  of  Lancastri- 
an, Nourse,  p.  71.) 

Hill  in  the  S.  W.  part  of  Bolton,  also  name  of  a  brook  prob- 
ably taken  from  the  name  of  the  hill.  First  mentioned  in  Lan- 
caster Records,  in  1655. 

The  name  I  believe  may  be  a  corruption  of  WuttuhqohteuJc, 
Wuttuliq,  '  Branches  of  trees, '  or  '  wood  for  fuel, ' — ohteuk,  a 
'  field  or  land  which  is  cultivated, '  signifying  a  tract  of  open 
land  over  which  fallen  trees  were  scattered — '  a  wood-land. ' 

2.     A  hill,  pond  and  brook  in  Brimfield. 


Watatick. 

Name  of  mountain  in  N.  E.  part  of  Ashburnham,  also  Little 
Watatick  mountain;  also  name  of  pond  near  the  mountain. 

This  name,  probably,  is  a  corruption  of  Wetu-tick,  '  wigwam 
brook, '  a  brook  on  which  the  Indians  lived.  The  name  probably 
first  applied  to  the  large  stream  near  the  mountain,  and  after- 
ward applied  to  the  mountain  and  pond.  Dr.  Trumbull  gives 
as  the  probable  meaning  of  Weataug,  from  Weetauog,  or  Wetu- 
auke,  signifying  'wigwam  place  '   (T.,  I.  N.  Conn.,  p.  80). 


Washwantohminunk,  Washwantownowmow. 

A  hill  in  Woodstock,  Conn.,  but  very  near  the  Massachu- 
setts line.  (Map  in  Miss  Larned's  Hist,  of  Windham  Co., 
vol.  1.) 

53 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Waushacum. 

The  name  of  two  large  ponds  in  Sterling,  on  the  Worcester 
&  Nashua  Railroad,  near  the  Sterling  Camp-ground. 

Roger  Williams  gives  Wechecum  as  the  Indian  name  for  the 
sea,  and  this  probably  is  the  same  word. 

Dr.  Usher  Parsons,  in  his  "  Indian  Names  of  Places  in 
Rhode  Island,"  says,  "In  Narraganset  dialect  springs  were 
called  Watclikecum." 


Wecobaug,  Wicabaug,  Wickaboag. 

A  pond  in  the  western  part  of  West  Brookfield,  ' '  and  has 
one  large  outlet  into  the  river  twenty  or  thirty  rods  in  length, 
called  Lashaway  (Whitney's  Wore.  County,  79).  Tradition 
says  it  meant  ' '  sweet  water. ' '  If  so,  probably  from  we  kon, 
'  it  is  sweet, '  and  pang,  '  pond. '  "  Wequa-paug  means  '  at  the 
end  of  the  pond. '  "     (Trumbull,  Indian  Names  in  Conn.,  84.) 

In  deed  of  Shattoocquis  to  Lieut.  Thomas  Cooper,  Nov. 
10th,  1665,  mentioned  as  a  boundary,  "  &  soe  westwards  off  to 
ye  North  end  of  Wecobaug  Pond."  (Hampden  Co.  Records, 
liber  A,  folio  18.) 

WicJcabaug,  the  Indian  village,  now  West  Brookfield.  (Quin- 
abaug  Soc.  Leaflets,  No.  7,  Levi  B.  Chase.) 

Wekapekatonnuc,  Wikapokotownow. 

A  hill  mentioned  iQ  the  original  deed  of  Leicester  as  one  of 
the  boundaries.  On  the  map  "as  first  laid  out  in  1714-17," 
made  by  the  Hon.  Jas.  A.  Denny,  the  western  boundary  as  de- 
scribed in  the  original  deed  of  Towtaid  is  not  given.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  name  is  very  obscure,  but  I  would  suggest  Wequac- 
pohqutae-uc,    '  the  point  of  land  where  they  divide  in  two, ' 

54 


INDIAN  NAMES 


probably  referring  to  some  hill  in  the  northern  part  of  Charlton, 
or  in  Spencer,  between  the  branches  of  some  brook. 

"And  westerly,  the  most  southermost  corner,  upon  a  little 
pond  called  Paupakquamcock,  then  to  a  hill  called  Wikapoko- 
townow."     (Washburn,  Hist,  of  Leicester,  appendix.) 


Wequaes,  Ueques. 

Mentioned  as  a  boundary  in  the  Indian  deed  of  Hardwick 
in  1686.  "And  soe  up  northerly  unto  a  place  called  Wequaes. ' ' 
(Hampden  Co.  Records,  liber  D,  folio  237.)  Uhquae  signifies 
'  at  the  point  or  extremity  of, '  ahquae,  '  on  the  other  end. ' 


Whipsuppenicke,  Whipsufferadge. 

The  land  granted  to  the  settlers  of  Marlboro,  ' '  became 
known  as  the  Whipsuppenick  or  more  commonly  the  Whippsuf- 
feradge  Plantation  from  the  Indian  name  of  the  hill  which  lies 
a  mile  or  so  south  of  Okommohamesit."  ( DeForest,  Hist,  of 
Marlboro,"  p.  14.)  This  grant  was  increased  later,  and  what 
was  then  known  as  Marlboro  now  constitutes  Southborough, 
most  of  Westborough  and  Northborough  and  a  part  of  Hudson. 


Wickapicket. 

A  brook  rising  in  Sterling,  flows  through  the  northwestern 
part  of  Lancaster  into  the  north  branch  of  the  Nashua  river.  Dr. 
Trumbull,  referring  to  Wecuppe^nee,  a  small  river  in  Connec- 
ticut, writes  :  ' '  Tradition  says  that  Wickapema  is  the  name  of 
an  Indian  chief  who  lives  on  the  place.' '  "  His  name  means 
Basswood,  or  the  Linden,  a  tree  highly  valued  by  the  Indians, 
from  which  they  make  ropes  and  mats.  The  ivikopi  of  the  In- 
dians was  the  bast  of  the  Germans  and  English  (corrupted  to 
bass)."     (Trumbull,  I.  N.  Conn.,  page  81.) 

55 


INDIAN  NAMES 


I  would  suggest  that  the  Lancaster  name  might  be  derived 
from  Wikopi-auke-et,  '  the  place  where  lindens  are. '  The  word, 
auJce  signifying  'land  '  or  'ground  '  or  'place.'  In  the  early 
history  of  Lancaster  the  name  is  spelled  six  different  ways,  but 
Henry  S.  Nourse,  of  Lancaster,  gave  this  spelling,  and  his  au- 
thority is  undoubted.       Wequapauget,  '  at  the  end  of  the  pond. ' 


Wiccopee. 

A  name  of  a  pass  in  Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y.,  also  of  a  pond 
in  Putnam  Co.,  N.  Y.,  also  a  name  of  a  New  York  tribe  of 
Indians. 


Wigwam. 

A  name  given  to  a  hill  on  the  western  shore  of  lake  Quin- 
sigamond  by  the  early  planters.  "It  was  probably  a  favorite 
place  of  residence  for  the  Indians  who  ranged  along  the  shores 
of  the  lake  for  fish  and  game. ' '  (Lincoln 's  History  of 
Worcester.) 

In  this  form  it  is  not  properly  the  Indian  name  of  the  hill, 
and  I  have  found  no  name  by  which  the  Indians  designated  it. 
We  find  the  name  Wetang,  in  Connecticut,  which  Trumbull 
says  ' '  seems  to  denote  a  place  where  the  Indians  lived  or  had 
their  wigwams  (wetu-auke,  '  wigwam,  place'),  "  and  also  wetau- 
wanchu,  mountain. 

Also  name  of  hill  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Mendon,  and 
the  same  name  has  been  used  quite  frequently  throughout  New 
England. 

Winnimissett,  Wenimisset. 

A  brook  rising  in  the  southern  part  of  New  Braintree,  flow- 
ing north  into  the  Ware  river.     Also  name  of  Indian  town  for- 

56 


INDIAN  NAMES 


merly  on  the  brook.  Possibly  from  Weenomissuck,  '  grape  vine 
brook, '  or  Weenomisset,  '  near  the  grape  vine '  —  referring  to 
some  well  known  grape  vine  in  this  vicinity  —  from  Weenom, 
'  a  grape, '  and  '  Weenomis, '  vine. 

In  this  neighborhood  was  located  the  swamp  —  the  scene  of 
Capt.  Wheeler's  and  Capt.  Hutchinson's  memorable  surprise 
and  defeat  by  the  Indians  Aug.  2nd,  1675. 

Capt.  Edw.  Hutchinson  was  the  first  person  buried  in  the 
old  burying  ground  in  Marlborough,  Ockoocangansett,  Aug.  19, 
1675. 


Wombemesiscook,  Wombemesisecook,  Wombem- 
sicunck,  Wombomesscock. 

The  Indian  name  of  the  land  about  Hardwick.  Probably  a 
corruption  of  Womjrimish-auke,  the  chestnut  tree  country,  '  the 
place  of  the  chestnut  trees'  (Wompomineash,  'chestnuts,'  R. 
W.,  p.  89).  "The  principal  growth  of  wood  (in  Hardwick) 
is  oak,  chestnut  and  walnut."     (Whitney,  p.  176.) 

Land  near  Quabaug,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Wom- 
bemesiscock.     (Hampden  Co.  Records,  liber  D,  folio  237.) 


Wonchesix. 

This  name  is  found  in  a  deposition  made  by  Thos.  Wilder 
in  1681 — refers  to  land  left  by  Jno.  Prescott,  Sen.  to  his  eldest 
son,  "fourty  acors  of  land  nere  Wonchesix"  (Middlesex  court 
files).  Probably  in  Clinton  near  Washaeum  (see  Woonkseckoek- 
8ett). 


Woonksechocksett,      Wonksacoxet,      Ocsechoxit, 
Chocksett. 

Name  applied  to  land  about  Sterling. 

57 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Wonksis-auJce-set.  Might  mean  '  near  the  place  of  foxes, ' 
'  Fox  country. ' 

Wopowage. 

Erroneously  given  in  Nason  's  Massachusetts  Gazetteer  and 
in  Hayward  's  Gazetteer  of  New  England  as  the  Indian  name  of 
Milford.  Mr.  Adin  Ballou  states  in  his  history  of  Milford  (p. 
14)  that  he  consulted  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull  in  regard  to 
this  name,  who  wrote  to  him  that  it  was  the  Indian  name  of 
Milford,  Conn.,  never  of  Milford,  Mass. 

Derived  from  Weejmoi-auk,  "  the  crossing  place." 

Wullamanick. 

A  hill  in  Brookfield  north  of  Quabaug  pond  near  Five  Mile 
river,  mentioned  as  a  boundary  of  Brookfield  in  the  Indian 
deed  from  Sattoockquis  to  Lieut.  Thos.  Cooper,  Nov.  10,  1665 
(Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  series  1,  vol.  1,  p.  269).  The  root  of  this 
name  with  variations  (Wallam,  Wollam,  Wullam,  Willim, 
Alum)  is  found  in  a  number  of  Indian  place  names  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut. 

Roger  Williams,  in  the  "  Key  to  the  Indian  Language"  (p. 
154) ,  translates  ' '  Wunnam "  "  Their  red  painting  which  they 
most  delight  in. "  The  Nipmucks  used  the  letter  L  for  the 
Narragansett  N.  Mr.  Harry  Wright  tells  me  that  the  Indians 
about  Hudson  Bay  use  the  word  Woloman  or  Wolomon  as  mean- 
ing something  red,  not  a  synonym  for  red,  but  for  something 
colored  red.  The  gum  which  they  use  on  their  boats  and  which 
they  color  red  they  called  Woloman.  I  believe  the  name  Wul- 
laman-ick  signified  'Red  Paint  Country, '  a  place  where  they 
found  red  earth  which  they  used  for  their  painting.  Wala- 
manups  Falls  at  Indian  Orchard,  Mass.  Walaman-ompslc,  '  Red 
colored  upright  rocks, '  and  a  ledge  of  bright  red  sandstone,  I 
am  informed,  runs  for  two  miles  along  the  falls  and  rapids. 

58 


INDIAN  NAMES 


Wunnashowatuckqut,  Showatuckqut. 

"The  country  of  the  Wunnashowatuckoogs  mentioned  by 
Roger  Williams  in  1637  as  confederates  of  the  Pequots.  They 
were  neighbors  of  the  Wusquowhananawkits  (i.  e.,  people  of 
the  Pigeon  Country)."  "Who  are  the  furthermost  Nipnet 
men."     (Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  v.  1,  pp.  188,  193,  197,  207.) 

In  Worcester  county,  Mass.,  "  at  the  crotch  of  the  river, " 
as  the  name  denotes  probably  at  the  forks  of  the  Blackstone 
river,  or  perhaps  between  Quinebaug  and  French  rivers. ' '  (J. 
H.  T.,  I.  N.  in  Conn.,  p.  91.) 


Wusquowhanawkits. 

"  People  of  the  Pigeon  country.  " 
"Who  are  the  furthermost  Nipnet  men. ' ' 
(Wuskowhan,   'Pigeon,'  R.  W.)     Probably  near  the  forks 
of  the  Blackstone. 

(See  WunnashowatueJcqut . ) 


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